


Far Cry 5 One Shots II

by Wealthywetsunny



Series: One Shots [2]
Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2019-08-19 06:22:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 100
Words: 149,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16529123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wealthywetsunny/pseuds/Wealthywetsunny
Summary: A mixture of headcanons and one shots from Far Cry involving all four Seeds.Requests are welcome





	1. Jacob/Rook Thigh Riding

“Go on. You asked for this.”

No. She really didn’t. Not once does she remember in the last two weeks in being crammed inside a dingy cage, exposed to the elements, ever telling Jacob she wanted to be forced into the situation.

The kind of situation where she was stripped down in his cozy little office, with keen and curious eyes focused on the spectacle he was making out of her. Tearing her from her cage when she could barely stand on her own. When only an hour before he tossed her to the ground in front of pitying faces and commanded his men to strip her. Because...Christ what did she even say to make him angry enough to do this? Her mind was muddled with how she was straddling one of his thick thighs, pleasure spiking low in her stomach and causing a sharp pain at her temple for just trying to figure out how the hell she got here in the first place.

“You’re getting what you want, Deputy.”

Rook breathed in deep, hand moving from covering her crotch to fist into the material of his shirt.

She had made him angry. Had pushed some buttons in her state of starvation and fatigue. Some stupid comment that went past flirtation. Just teasing really, she was bored, on the verge of death. At the time she didn’t think it could get worse, what else could he do to her?

Apparently he was quick to fix her scalding words. Wasting no time dragging her up flights upon flights of stairs past the curious eyes of his soldiers and into the privacy of his office.

And now they were here. With Rook riding Jacob’s thigh and grinding into him with the help of his heavy palm. An enforcing presence on the small of her back that was inescapable.

Her eyes were half lidded. Still adjusting to the dim lights that were an awful juxtaposition compared to the bright sun she had been forced to endure.

She was taking in his stoic features, trying to gauge how well refusing would go for her. 

“Not gonna ask again.”

“This isn’t exactly a punishment.” Her words were just a whisper. Tipping her chin down to her chest. Wincing when she took notice of the wet patch on his jeans.

“No? You don’t think so?” He shifted both his hands on her hips. Pushing her down subtly. Forcing the roll of her hips against him. Pausing for a second to trail his fingers down her naval, spreading her lips so her clit was shoved against the harsh material of the denim he wore. “I can make it worse if you don’t think it’s enough. Maybe I’ll take you back outside if you’re so eager to return, have my men watch, have all those people down there learn a lesson from you.” He tilted his head to the side. “Do you want that?”

“N-no.” She swallowed hard, cringing when her voice wavered.

“Then get to it.” His hand drew away from her clit to rest on her hip again. Smiling his approval when she grinded against him of her own accord.

“There ya go. Just like I wanted.” His praise was subtle, a tiny thing that still made her mind light up. It’s what made her let out a light moan, the way his voice dropped down low and how his eyes became dark with lust.

Lust he didn’t care much to hide.

She kept her hips moving. Hands straying to his shoulders to give her more leverage as she pushed down, seaking some dregs of pleasure without anything inside her.

“Something wrong pup?” He was cupping the side of his face, almost looking bored. “You’re taking up my time,” he explained casually when she whined in form of an answer. “I’ve got paperwork to do, can't have you rutting against me until you finish.”

“But you can.” It came out as a whine. With her scooting closer to his body. Taking comfort in the warmth he was exuding. “Let me cum. Do your work, hold a fucking meeting with your men if you need to. Just let me cum.” She crowded his space. Burying her head in his neck, scattering kisses along his scarred skin as a form of persuasion.

“Yeah?” He laughed lowly, starting to feel her slickness running through his jeans. “You’re that needy? You wanna show off like a bitch in front of my men? God, look at you. Those resistance buddies of yours would be so ashamed.”

Rook didn’t have the strength to strike out against him, not when he was the only person granting her pleasure after weeks of being stuck in Hope County.

“Do you get off on that? Having people watch?” His hand slipped down between her legs. Fingers carding through her mound. Barely touching her where she was aching.

He sent another sharp laugh through the air. “Yeah, I’m sure I can do that for you. I’ll let you hump me like the slut you’re so hellbent on being as I keep going about my day, giving orders, commanding my men whenever they come in here.” He smiled, cupping the base of her neck. “Gonna be a long day, huh Deputy?”


	2. Staci/Rook Impregnation Kink and Yandere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Staci impregnation kink, tying Rook up to keep her out of danger
> 
>  
> 
> “Think about it, if you’re here, safe in the Wolf’s Den with me, swelling with a child, you don’t have to play hero anymore. You can be free from fighting a war that wasn’t even ours in the first place.”

There was an adjustment period for them both. Her and Staci. Just the two of them holed up in a room tucked away in a dark corner of the Wolf’s Den. Knowing full well that they were in danger, constant fear gnawing at them with the fact that Jacob wasn’t dead. He was still out there and he could take draw them back into his arms anytime he wanted with the first few notes of a song. Or he could just kill them.

Rook knew that her partner had it worst. That the night terrors he suffered from far surpassed her own demons. Even if she dealt with John and Faith weeks before. 

So she held him close at night, let him curl up into her side when someone knocked on the door a little too harshly, or when he went to grab something to eat on the rare moments when he was brave enough to interact with people and he would hear the mention of Jacob, a simple name that would make him tremble. She’d let him bury his head in the crook of her neck and just sob.

It might’ve been a mistake, he was broken and it could’ve been considered wrong. But she let him kiss her. It was dark, the digital clock she stole from an abandoned house ticking away, telling her it was 4 in the morning. With tears streaming down his face he pressed questioning lips to hers. Simply lingering there as a question before she kissed him back.

It calmed him each time. There was no harm in it. He needed it, fuck, she was damaged too, they both needed some touch that lacked any force if they were going to stay sane.

In retrospect, she should’ve known this whole thing would blow up in her face. That by the time she was ready to get back to the frontline that her cabin fever would be at its height and she was sure going back to all the killing would be good for her. She should have known that Staci wouldn’t be ready for her to leave so fast just to murder again when he probably had PTSD. And she didn’t expect him to be ready like she was, she didn’t hold it against him in the slightest.

She just didn’t think he’d hold her closer the night before. That he would be crowding into her space more than usual, pressing his lips on her collarbone fervently with half-mumbled words she couldn’t make out in her sleepy state.

Rook could fall asleep like that, with his warmth shrouding over her. For now, she could act as a teddy bear for him to cling to until morning came and she was on her way.

They’d be fine.

*****

“Rook?”

“Rook please.” His words didn’t wake her, not the rough gravel tone that had dropped to a whisper. She had maintained her heavy sleeper status after all the shit she’s been through. What did rouse her from her dreamless sleep with the feeling of a constant pressure bearing down on her body that she couldn’t identify.

Her eyes fluttered open when she recognized Staci’s rough beard against her neck. Patchy and unkempt as it was—unwilling to take a blade to it because memories of Jacob flitted behind his eye. His lips ran further down until she jolted more into wakefulness at the first press of teeth on her collarbone. Mouthing there softly, nipping at her like a puppy.

She craned her neck, moving up on her elbows only to be pushed back down by a firm hand between her breasts. It was a hold she could easily break from if she pleased, but when their eyes caught for a brief second, she saw pure mania. An unstable force that was different from all the other breakdowns she helped him through.

“Stace?”

When there was no answer, she reached out to pet at his head, giving a light shove in an attempt to give him a subtle hint to get off her.

There was something low rumbling in his throat. Whether it was a whine or a snarl she didn’t have time to process, her mind was thrown for a loop when he moved faster than she ever thought him capable with all his damaged limbs and bruised skin. He climbed up her body with thighs digging into her ribs, rope strung tight between his hands before they were wrapped around her own wrists and connected to the headboard.

“Staci!” She kicked her legs out of alarm, fingers clenching into fists when he pulled back. “Staci, hey.” She tried for gentle and soothing. Yelling at him would take him right back to his time with Jacob. And she was trying to defuse a situation that was already escalating quickly. “Look at me.”

He at least listened to her, dragged his eyes up from where they were focused on her heaving chest, hands hovering over her t-shirt . He waited, paused in his actions to listen.

“There.” Rook sighed, shifted her position and winced at the feeling of the hard outline of his cock pressing into her stomach when he pushed himself forward to stop her. “What are you doing?” Her voice had lost all confidence as it became shockingly clear what his intentions were.

“Helping us.” His hands dropped to her shirt. Tugging away buttons and shoving her bra up, going fast; fast but not hard. “I’m saving you too, this isn’t selfish Rook.” Staci lowered his head to kiss along her breasts.

“Love to know how this is helping anyone.” She couldn’t cut back on the snarkiness in her voice.

“Think about it, if you’re here, safe in the Wolf’s Den with me, swelling with a child, you don’t have to play hero anymore. You can be free from fighting a war that wasn’t even ours in the first place.”

“N-no.” Her hips bucked up. Trying and failing to throw him off as he moved down her body. Slotting himself between her legs and shoving them open. “Stace, I’m not asking you to fight. But the resistance needs me, they need law enforcement--”

“They’re a bunch of ingrates.” He snarled. Anger spilling over as he grabbed onto the flesh of her thighs. “Asking you to play errand girl and not, in the slightest, showing gratitude. I care about you, I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore or killed. This’ll keep you here and out of the way of gunfire won’t it?” He gave her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

His hands moved to his belt, working with a steadfastness she remembers seeing when they escaped Jacob. There was panic in his eyes, energy thrumming beneath his skin as his mind screamed at him to hurry up. Difference being that she understood the need for haste back then. They almost died. They had Jacob and his wolves biting at their heels, they had to run and the extra adrenaline was needed.

That was then.

This is now. When they were safe and sound with Eden's Gate not knowing where either of them was.

"It's gonna be okay Rook. We can wait it out together." Staci chucked off his clothes, hunching in on himself with something that she dared to say was shyness that radiated off him as he shuffled closer to her. Shoving her legs further apart to fit himself in between before she could react.

"Wait what out?" Her hips twitched down in an attempt to move away. "We're alright Staci, calm down--"

"I am calm." Though his panting breaths said otherwise. The way his greasy hair hung in his eyes told such a different story that she was almost afraid of her partner. “You need to understand. You need to see like I have, that...that I get it now." He was leaning in close. Pushing into her with a single breath.

His head fell down on her chest. Sweat covered forehead mixing with her heated skin.

"If you've got my kid, you won't want to leave. You can't." He thrusted in hard, as if he could fuck some sense into her. "And at least we'll have something after the collapse. After all our friends and family are dead and gone. We'll start anew."

He moved up, hands curling into fists by her hair and into the bed sheets. Cock stretching her painfully wide without any preparation.

"We can start the next generation."


	3. PolySeed/Rook Immunity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Deputy immune to the bliss 
> 
>  
> 
> Rook was not being careful. 
> 
> She knew that going in. Skirting along the edge of the water, hand skipping past the cross hatched patterns of the large fence that encased Joseph’s Island. She could get through this alive. Take Joseph away from his flock and into the angry embrace of the resistance.

“I don’t think they know.” Rook smiled around her words. Laughing despite having been chased down by John’s best gunmen, weapons filled with bliss strong enough to force a bear to the ground.

Not her though. She was praising whatever God was on her side tonight.

“It’s still dangerous.” Nick murmured, apologizing immediately after seeing Rook wince when he yanked a fragment of a bullet out of her arm. Kim was hovering behind him, cautiously peering over his shoulder when he held up the metal shining green with the sparkly fumes of bliss. “I dunno, I wouldn’t let it be obvious. Putting yourself on the line like that…”

“I’m the only one who can do it!” She snapped, anger making her brow dip low. They were her friends, practically family. She adored the Ryes, and yet she felt no worries about yelling at them because they were just being illogical at this point.

“You’re not.” Kim admonished, making Rook really think she’d make a great mother when the time came. “We’ve dealt with the Seeds for a while. We’ve dealt with this bliss bullshit too. We know how to handle it without you risking your life.”

“Yeah.” Rook stood, snatching her jacket from where it was hanging over the arm of the couch and shrugging it on. Doing her best to hide her annoyance. “But imagine having no casualties, not needing to deal with someone becoming an angel from too much bliss.” She sighed, toeing on her shoes and making a beeline for the door. “Just saying…”

“Letting the Seeds know you can’t be affected by the bliss is a bad idea. It’d be another reason for them to track you down. Only with the added benefit with them poking and prodding at you like you’re a damn lab rat!” Nick’s nostrils flared as he spoke. The only thing holding him back from keeping the deputy under their watch being Kim’s hand on his bicep. “Just be careful.” He called before Rook slammed the door shut.

*****

Rook was not being careful.

She knew that going in. Skirting along the edge of the water, hand skipping past the cross hatched patterns of the large fence that encased Joseph’s very own island. Smiling with the knowledge that the bliss wasn’t doing a damn thing to her. That the sparkles crowding her vision were barely there, if at all.

She could get through this alive. Take Joseph away from his flock and into the angry embrace of the resistance. A plan she was surprised no one had even tried yet with how trusting he could be.

The fear he instilled in people must’ve ran deep. Though most of that lied in the drug he tossed around like he wasn’t apart of the rest of the people slowly ruining the eco system. The same drug that didn’t do shit to her.

When she arrived at the harbor, containing a small dock devoid of any boats, she crouched low. Disregarding the dew from the grass that clung to her pants and leaked into her shoes. They squished softly as she took careful steps, circling around to the front of the church. Eyes falling on the bright green bliss barrels that acted as decoration for the large expanse of land. One was already half cocked open, lid threatening to fall with the slightest gust of wind. The bliss was curling up into the air, swirling around and disappearing when it got high enough.

A few weeks ago and that would’ve scared her. Maybe it still should, maybe the sudden confidence she felt at knowing their biggest weapon would have zero effect on her was getting to be dangerous. It was making her think she was invincible, that taking on hoards of peggies was suddenly easy. And it might be, she just had to give it a try and hope the Seeds still wanted her alive.

Rook stepped out from behind cover easily, keeping careful watch of where everyone was stationed, facing away from her for the time being. There seemed to be less of them scattering the yard. It made her move faster, going to the large church doors, it’d be her best bet if she wanted to find Joseph. She circled around the corner of the building fast, feet dancing over rocks effortlessly as she reached for the door handles.

“Oh, look at you.”

She tightened her grasp around the handle. Muscles twitching to tug it open. Instead she craned her neck slightly over her shoulder. Checking one last time to see if anyone was watching them before locking eyes with the youngest sibling of the family. Their artificial sister.

“Still running place to place, armed fully as if expecting to be met with murder and warfare.” Faith skipped closer, a faint smile on her face as if she had Rook all figured out. “Yet we don’t want to hurt you. You force us to fight fire with fire. We really don’t want to harm you, and…” She hesitated, though Rook couldn’t tell if it was for show or not. “And maybe you finally see that.” Faith blinked once. Twice. Waiting for Rook to interject. When she didn’t the siren continued, only looking partly disappointed, “That’s why you’re here, sneaking around to avoid spilling any more blood than you already have, you want out help. You want to let us in.”

“Right.” Rook laughed gently, retracting her hand to rest at her hip, right where her gun laid below her shirt. “And I’m sure that’s just my pride getting in the way.” It was meant as a joke, some poor attempt at sarcasm now that she was caught. But Faith’s eyes lit up. She took quick, twirling steps forward until she was standing directly in front of Rook. Close enough that she could smell the bliss coming off her. Like it was embedded into the woman’s skin, clinging to her flowery dress and urging Rook to fall victim to her lies.

“Was that a confession deputy? Are you finally ready now?” She grabbed at Rook’s hands. Intertwining them with her own smaller ones.

“Isn’t that John’s job?”

“It is. And you can tell him yourself, great timing actually. It was fate, meant to be like The Father predicted.”

“Fate?” She leaned closer to Faith, raising an eyebrow and breathing in deep, eyes closing a moment later as she picked up in the minute details of how the bliss was trying to worm its way inside her head.

The sudden puff of powder in her face made her cough and sputter. Nose scrunching up in discomfort as the drug pushed into her body. Tickling the edges of her mind and threatening to drag her down like its done to so many in the past.

Something was different with her though, making the haze that she’s heard fall over everyone never even touch her. All she felt was a pain behind her eyes. But her mind was clear, hallucinations non existent. She couldn’t complain too much.

Rook stumbled back slightly, colliding with something hard that caught her around her shoulder. “You’ve gotten brass pup. Too damn confident, too fucking big for your shoes.” The deep baritone of such a recognizable voice set her on edge.

Since when did all the Seeds have enough time to hang out at the same spot and leave their regions? And why was she not informed of this, why wasn’t this prime chatter for resistance radios? 

She was blinking rapidly, shaking away the bliss in only a second. Her head tipped up to look at the soldier, noting how fucking smug he looked with her in his grasp. He not too gently grabbed at her jaw, leaning down slightly to check her eyes. Sucking in a whistle through his teeth.

He caught on quick, huh?

“Might wanna bring more bliss John”

“The whole place is infested with it, it’s in the air.” John called back from somewhere she was unable to see with how Jacob still kept her head tipped to his chest. “We don’t need her turning into an angel.”

Jacob made a noise of discontent in the back of his throat, angling her head down roughly for John to look at her when he was close enough. Which he apparently deemed right up in her personal space. Bending at his waist, coattails dragging in the dirt to peer into her eyes. There was a small frown pulling at his lips as he took in her clear gaze.

He stood, running a hand through his hair and glancing at Jacob before he waved for one of his faithful to run over.

“So what’s the verdict John?” Her back straightened when she spoke, standing tall. Making a show of confidence that was unlike anyone in the Seed’s presence.

He ignored her teasing. Taking a plucked bliss flower from the hands of a Peggie. It looked fresh, roots present at its base with clumps of dirt clinging on. “You tell me dep.” He tried for a smile that wavered when he got closer. Confusion on his face as he held the flower under her nose for her to breathe in.

Jacob’s grasp shifted from her shoulder to her neck. Making her bend into the aroma, and she didn’t struggle. She let him push her down until her nose met soft petals. “How do you feel?” John asked, nodding once for Jacob to pull her up so he could examine her eyes.

“Just peachy.” She dared to smile, adding teeth. Snarling with anger when he brushed at her jaw almost lovingly.

“Maybe the bliss isn’t strong enough…” He was more talking to himself than he was her.

John twirled the flower in his hands before tossing it to the ground with a flick of his wrist. “Either way I think this is something worth looking into. Maybe something Joseph would like to know about too, this is sure to confirm what he already told us about you.”

He didn’t let her get a word in edgewise before he was speaking again, coming closer to her and peeling her away from Jacob.

“Oh dep, Lord knows you’re special now. Another sign given to us.” John chuckled, head bending forward, close enough for his hair to brush along her nose and make her try to draw back. “Welcome to Eden’s Gate, Rook.”


	4. PolySeed/Rook Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request:
> 
> He wasn’t calling out to her, wasn’t letting his brothers know there was an intruder on what she now knew was their land. He just raised his eyebrows at her, giving a subtle nod. Face falling back into a mask of serenity.
> 
> An option to come join them. Almost like a peace offering. A ceasefire considering they were at war.

The building currently standing imposingly in front of her rivaled Seed ranch. Hell, if she had the Heralds' phone numbers she’d send them pictures from every angle just to tick John off. Then again, the petty man would probably knock it down a few hours later just out of spite. Do a fly by with his fancy plane. 

And her causing demolition to such a beautiful cabin that was practically a mansion would be the greatest of sins. This would be her little secret. Maybe someplace she could call home without having to sleep with one eye open.

Rook walked up closer, skipping along the large rock path like a child. After all the bloodshed she's experienced, she deserved this moment. It was like her own slice of heaven.

The wood was pristine, not a sign of rot or disrepair. Splinters weren't catching in her fingers as she ran her hand along the side of the cabin, craning her neck up in reverence. She let out a low whistle as she rounded the corner. A small gasp slipping from her lips at what the backyard looked like.

Fucking cherry blossom trees. She didn’t know they grew so deep in Holland Valley, or that Montana even housed them. Yet she was lucky enough to see a whole bundle of them framing the area. Acting as a makeshift fence. A barrier to keep out prying eyes.

She slotted her gun back in its holster. Putting her guard down for the moment as she puttered along the grassy land. Freshly clipped with flowers framing a worn pathway. Imprints of feet and thousands of animals warping the dirt trail.

Her whole body tensed when she moved further down the pathway. Half crouching at the sound of splashing water. She picked up the pace, hoping for a waterfall, or even a couple of carefree kids going for a swim to beat the hot weather.

She rounded the corner, throwing herself in a thick thatch of bushes that hung twenty feet away from a pool. Her body stayed low to the ground, cheek pushed into the rough bark of a tree as she listened to the sound of voices. Trying to discern them from friend or foe.

“John If you splash water on me one more time—“

“Well if you actually got in the pool we wouldn’t be having this problem,” The youngest snapped back. Hands resting on the rim of the pool as he shouted over at Jacob, who was sitting down and very much not swimming. Though he was wearing a bathing suit, a tee shirt  thrown over his chest.

Joseph’s feet were hanging in the water, jeans gone and replaced for black swim trunks that showed off scarred thighs. The edges of his lips were tilted up in a smile towards his brothers. The book held open in his hand momentarily forgotten about as they just...lived. Christ, he wasn't even brandishing their religious text that she couldn't escape no matter where she ran off to. It was just a novel, some normal book that made him and his family appear more human.

She didn’t move fast enough, was too enraptured by the scene playing out before her. Suddenly Joseph’s eyes shifted, whether on his own accord or because she stepped on one of the twigs littering the ground. Whatever the case, she was now trapped by his gaze. One that held fascination.

He wasn’t calling out to her, wasn’t letting his brothers know there was an intruder on what she now knew was their land. He just raised his eyebrows at her, giving a subtle nod. Face falling back into a mask of serenity.

An option to come join them. Almost like a peace offering. A ceasefire considering they were at war.

Joseph was someone she could somewhat trust. Between the three men in front of her, she’d much rather be locked in a room with the manic preacher of Hope County. But he wasn't alone, he had his brothers standing nearby and if she stepped out from the protection of the bushes she's taken refuge in they’d pounce on her. Jacob would probably body slam her to the floor and cart her over to John who had a handy supply of water at his disposal for drowning purposes.

She rose fully, meeting Joseph’s gaze and shaking her head. She was smarter than that. Quickly she turned on her heel, missing the disappointed frown he gave in her direction.

“Deputy. How about you come join us?”

Her back went ramrod straight. Panic bubbling over. That fucking snake. She was stupid to ever think he was giving her a choice. Of course he would call out to her. Of course.

“Dep?” That was John’s voice, confusion melting into his words. “I didn’t know you were one for trespassing dear.” He gave off a hearty laugh, swimming to the edge closest to her and hefting himself out with ease. Waving away Jacob’s comments that he was being stupid, reckless too.

“Ah, there you are deputy.”

She glanced over her shoulder, very pointedly not focusing on the speedo esque swimwear he was sporting that clung too tightly around his dick. 

“Feeling a little hot? Or were you looking for a place to spend the night--”

“Neither!” She snapped, turning on her heel and stalking closer out of anger. “Just went for a walk.” There was no need to defend herself with petty words, but John brought something out of her that made her mind go hazy as self-preservation left the building.

“A walk. A walk that led you right to our little home. I mean, you must’ve heard us, we were being quite noisy. And you came to investigate.”

“Your point?”

“This must be destiny.” He leaned in close to her, rocking on his heels and whispering conspiratorially like he was sharing some secret. And with the smile that he wore proudly he must think highly of himself, maybe of his prophet of a brother relaxing poolside behind him. “Come on,” He reached out towards her, intending to grab her upper arm. She was quick to backpedal. Yanking her arm away like she had been burnt.

He had the nerve to look offended at her action. Confused too, like they had never been anything but friends. “You’re leaving then? Why?" If she had more of a heart for a man who cut into people’s flesh, she might feel bad for how lost he sounded. "I’m not threatening you, I’m being civil, very fucking polite considering all you’ve put Eden’s Gate through.” His hands fell to his hips, fingers toying with the cloth covering him, hands itching to veer towards violence.

“I’m letting love in Rook.” He threw his arms wide in annoyance. “I can only do so much, you have to participate in this too!” He jabbed a tattooed finger in her face, backing her up against a tree. Not striking out against her, not yet. “If it weren’t for my brother's inclination for you, Jacob and I would’ve had you killed already. Show some gratitude at least.” John stomped off a second later, chest heaving and back muscles tense. Leaving her to wonder what the fuck just happened. Because out of all the encounters she’s had with the Seeds, that was the strangest.

Rook followed after him, taking careful steps out of the dense vegetation to see John seething in a chair next to Jacob. Head thrown back to reveal his neck, glasses tossed over his eyes carelessly with how they hung lopsided on his face. His legs were spread wide as he slouched over. The epitome of a spoiled child who heard the word no for the first time.

“What’d you do to my brother dep?”

Surprisingly she didn’t flinch when she met Jacob’s gaze. Though maybe it was because his eyes held amusement more than anything else.

“Jacob.” She hooked her thumbs in the shallow pockets of her jeans, meandering closer and huffing a light breath of air. “Honestly I’ve got no fucking idea.”

“Yeah pretend like you don’t know, that’s fine.” John hissed, finally righting himself in his chair.

“Go cool off or something John.”

“Cool off?” He was on his feet, pointedly not looking at Joseph who suddenly had gone paler than normal with a look of regret on his face. “I tried to invite you to swim, to just have fun and stop with your wrath, but I’m starting to think you can’t be helped.” He had backed her up to the edge of the pool. Skin turning blotchy red with anger.

“Sorry.” She tipped her lips up softly, hand moving to his exposed bicep in some form of faux sympathy. Rubbing up and down until his shoulders went lax. And that’s when her hold tightened, and she twirled on her heel. Pushing out forcefully to make him fall into the water below.

Her head swiveled around when she heard the sound of the chair Jacob was sitting on creak as he stood to stroll towards her. He towered over her, getting in her space and cocking an eyebrow. There was a hint of a smile on his face as he took in the scene his younger brother made floundering in the pool as if he never knew how to swim.

“Nice work.” He finally said, eyes catching hers.

“Yeah?” Rook took a step closer to him, hand looping around to press into his back. Feeling the sweat-stained material. “You hot too Jacob?” At the lack of an answer she recoiled. “You’re gonna hurt me if I push you.”

“Dunno. Try it.” The smile on his face became more prominent. Appearing fully as the thought crossed his mind.

“Ah.” She took careful steps behind him, out of his line of sight and letting herself look over at Joseph for the first time in a while. There wasn’t disappointment ringing around his face in the form of a scowl anymore. He had his head buried in the book he was reading, though his eyes were flicking up and down. Probably reading over the same line over and over again with how focused he was on his brothers and the sudden intruder that he invited over.

Rook shifted her gaze back over to Jacob. Strong and broad as he was, standing with legs close together and arms hanging low by his side. Off guard for once with muscles that weren’t at all tense below his grey shirt. It’d be easy for her to just...push him, right?

God, the satisfaction of shoving John in was totally expected. But getting Jacob wet, that’s a story her friends would adore if she managed to pull it off. It’d give them a good laugh for once when they were drunk off their asses.

She charged forward. Rushing at him and wrangling him around his waist, hoping to use the momentum to make him lose balance and tip over the edge.

Jacob didn’t even stumble. His feet locked into place as he reached over his shoulder. Having a reaction time she didn't anticipate a man of his age to possess even with his years in the army. He grabbed at her, tossing her in. Throwing her halfway into the pool to where she was suddenly plunged into eight feet of water.

“Are you trying to fucking kill me?!”

She distantly heard Joseph admonishing a soft warning of, “Language Rook,” before she was pounced on. Being dragged down by a very angry 5’10 man. She was sure the only thing that kept her from drowning in their family pool was Joseph. A constant savior to John’s attacks it would seem when she resurfaced and John paddled off quick to the edge, elbow keeping him afloat next to Joseph as he glared at her.

“This is the welcome I get Joseph?” Rook sputtered, coughing up water and snarling at the two brothers because Jacob wasn’t the one she wanted to get into a fight with considering he just chucked her like she was a bag of flour. “Control your brothers.”

Joseph merely smiled at her. Placing a bookmark in the middle of his novel and putting his paperback out of reach of the pool. He leaned forward, hand on John’s shoulder to calm his wrath. “I’m not their keepers.”

“Since when?” She snapped, puffing out a light breath as she struggled to stay above water. Chin dipping in and out as her legs grew weary from the repetitive motion. She ignored the annoyed look in John’s eyes and the concerned one in Joseph’s. This was a bunch of bullshit and she regretted everything leading up to this point.

“Need help dep?” Jacob asked softly, crouching down next to Joseph.

“You’re not in this conversation Jacob.”

“You were speaking about me, makes it my business.” He shrugged, standing to his full height with arms crossed. The man knew how to make his presence known, and he was well aware of that.

“Jesus Christ you’re all unbearable.” Rook groaned, tipping her head back and drenching her hair.

“Blasphemy, I’ll keep that In mind. Unless you want me to give you that tattoo now? You are here, It’d be convenient.”

“I can get her for ya. Drag her to shore if you really want John.” Jacob offered, gazing down at his brother as they shared an awful predatory grin between the two of them.

She wasn’t quick enough to paddle away, of course that was because she wasn’t anticipating Jacob doing a cannonball in the pool inches away from her and almost dragging her further down below. The initial shock made her hesitate long enough for him to grab at her, this time he did shove her under. Only to yank her up again, gasping and spitting up water. She was aware of how John was howling with laughter from her torment along with the scolding words falling from Joseph’s lips.

They wouldn’t kill her. Especially not when Joseph had them all under his command, reminding them of her importance. She’s heard it from Jacob himself, telling her that his brother wanted her alive. She’d just have to suffer until the wolf of a man above her had his fun with showing off his strength.

After the fourth time, he let her cling to him like a child. With her legs wrapped around his waist to avoid sinking to the bottom. She coughed, eyes blurred with water that she scrubbed at with the back of her hands.

“I’m gonna kill all of you.”

The threat didn’t do much seeing as how that warranted her a response of laughter and shared glances between the three of them.

“Sure ya will pup, sure ya will.” He ruffled her sopping wet hair before dunking her again. The sun was still high in the sky. They could do this for hours.

God, what had she been thinking?


	5. Joseph/Rook Taking Things Too Far

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Yandere Joseph with a mix of soulmate au
> 
> His head rested between her breasts, pressing a kiss to her skin to replace his kind words. That didn’t mean his threats weren’t there, floating along the surface for her to remember her place beside him.

When Rook was younger, she loathed the ink that reduced her skin into nothing more than a cheap canvas expected to be branded. It wasn’t like a tattoo, it didn’t hurt like one when it finally appeared. The night when she went to sleep one night without a single blemish and awoke to the ugly marking. It wasn’t jet black either. It was a tad dark though, enough to get on her nerves, up to the point for her to get desperate and try in vain to cover it up way into adulthood.

She feared meeting her soulmate. Her own house was unstable, with soulmates as parents who had hated one another before they finally accepted it. All grown up and she still wasn’t sure whether they loved each other the way husband and wife should. She didn’t want that. So she ran, far away from her problems and from home.

Traded Maine for the rolling hills that Montana offered.

Her eyes were constantly on her soulmark. Turning in the mirror to get a good look at the inky grey that clawed over her stomach and wrapped around her back. Reaching out similar to a careless animal. Day by day she’d check it out, praying that it wouldn't be darker, for that meant her soulmate was alive and well, and she’d rather be alone than have someone she didn't love by her side. Christ, she remembered when she was young, maybe 11, and the ink on her body almost blinked out of existence. It did that a lot when she was a kid. It didn't fill her with worry like most children would have experience. She never felt that gnawing sense of dread in her stomach and she never bothered crying into her parent's arms. She'd sit up late at night with her bedside lamp casting long shadows on the walls, creating a glow that showed off the weaning soulmark on her body. It didn't do that anymore. In fact, it might've gotten darker since she's taken up a position as a junior deputy.

Periodically throughout the day she’d lift up her shirt to reveal her ribs, checking to see if the sporadic lines had stretched out against her skin or had narrowed down to thin little stripes. You were taught early on, if it got larger, covered more of your body and moved, that meant your soulmate was near, a simple touch, skin on skin contact would confirm what your body already knew.

She was terrified, every day was like walking on landmines. So she questioned why she didn’t check her soulmark that day, why she simply rode off her uneasiness as nerves that she would get over once the arrest was all said and done. She was naive and stupid, lost to the adrenaline in her veins that night.

Joseph says it was God who soothed her.

She learned quick that he was one of those crazies who let their soulmark dictate their life.

That's why she was trapped. Living the unhappy life that her mother and father were always scared she’d get sucked into. She wonders now what their reaction would be if she told them she got sucked into a cult, locked underground in some doomsday prepper style bunker with a man she hesitated to call her husband and a whole family standing behind him saying the world was going to end.

Thinking like that drove her to tears most days.

Thinking about the future was worse. It made her sick to recall that so-called phony wedding he put her through. Rook can barely grab at the memories floating right beyond her conscious mind. She has snippets of thoughts, half imagined visions of that night that she wasn't really sure was true. They had to of drugged her. That wasn't normal. Not like he told her anything of validity when she asked. She noticed how good he was at dodging questions.

For the time being she’d have to deal with him. She’d lie on the king size bed he provided her with and mope. Waiting for some chance she’d get at running.

The man was fucking crazy. She didn’t know the extent of his devotion, but they’ve known each other for a month, been married for less than a week. He’d get over her departure. 

Rook didn’t have a plan. There wasn’t anything around her she could use to attack him with. Nothing sharp to cause her harm and make one of his cronies worried enough to risk popping their head in. She wasn’t deterred, no, this was the first time in a while since she felt that familiar rush of adrenaline that made her head woozy.

In her mind’s eyes she could already see the movements she’d go through to bring Joseph to the ground, hopefully knocking him out and tearing the key from him that he always slipped in his back pocket.

It had to be worth the danger. Christ, she was already in danger. There wasn’t any point to delay an escape.

Rook curled up further into a ball above the mound of blankets she had been given. Listening carefully to the heavy metal door clicking open and slamming shut. The noise made her tremble involuntarily.

“Rook? Are you awake?” There was the slight noise of him slipping off his shoes, too fucking domestic for the situation he forced her in.

Her ears picked up on the way his socked feet slid against the floor, on how the material of his jeans rubbed together as he neared the bed. Call it paranoia that made her senses kick into gear whenever he was in the same room with her.

“Rook?” The bed dipped slightly. And she let herself go limp, rolling back towards him until she bumped into his thigh, the only force stopping her from collapsing on the floor. “I know you’re feigning sleep, darling. You’re my wife, I can see these things.” There was an air of confidence that never left him when he spoke. He could be surrounded in a ring of fire and still he’d speak highly of his own abilities, something getting dangerously close to arrogance.

He gave a deep sigh, daring to brush a strand of hair out of her face. “You think so highly of yourself, it’s shown on each movement you perform. You think you’re some sort of saint, but you’re not. You say I’m crazy, that I’m...what’s the word you used? Sick?” He chuckled lightly, sharing a joke that she couldn’t participate in. He leaned in close enough for her to feel his warm breath against her cheek. “That’s certainly different than what I’m used to hearing, I have to admit.”

Joseph moved to the floor when he gained no response from her still form. He went down on bended knee, cradling her head lovingly as he got eye level with her. “You’re wrong Rook. I know you are listening. So please hear me when I say how wrong you are. I’m not a monster. I only want to love my soulmate. There is nothing wrong about that, about wanting to be near my wife.” He sounded more like he was trying to convince himself, as if her reluctance had shaken his own faith.

He bumped their heads together. An action amongst the family she had come to dread. But one that she went with willingly this time around, it garnered trust when he minutely pulled away with a sigh. She peeked open an eye, his own were closed tight, glasses absent.

Her hand reached up, hovering just above his neck before tightly grabbing at his skin and smashing their heads together forcefully with a sickening crack that sent him falling back on his ass. It wasn’t near enough to knock him out, only giving her time to pounce on top of him, fear evident in her eyes as she grabbed his throat and squeezed.

She never wanted to kill anyone, never planned on it at least. Once upon a time she was a loyal deputy with a gun at the ready. Killing always seemed harsh though. A last line of defense when all else failed. But everything was already crumbling to pieces around her. Who knew how long his nice guy schtick would last before he would lose patience? So her hands wrapped around his neck, eyes almost pleading for him to just give in. To let her go.

He didn’t. He wouldn’t in a million years. He reached up fast, knocking her off of him and on the solid floor. With him on top of her back, knees tightening around her ribs to keep her still. His hand was on the back of her neck, squeezing and lifting her head off the ground.

“That’s enough.” His tone wasn’t yet yelling, simply stern, a kind of command that made her tremble with fear of what he was capable of. “Maybe you’ve forgotten that you are mine Rook.” He peeled her shirt up to reveal her soulmark. Breathing in deep as if to compose himself before seeming to come to a decision.

He was off her in a single breath of air. Pulling her with him to her feet. He grabbed at the hem of her shirt, tugging it up and off before she had time to protest. “Don’t forget that. You have this to prove it.” His hand trailed down, creating a spark between the two of them that made her knees go weak despite what she knew about him. About this monster who was bound to her in very sense of the word. 

Her lack of resistance made it easy for him to guide her to their bed. The same one he tried to use as his own only to have her scramble to get away. Not tonight, tonight she would learn that she was his.

“There we are, child.” He murmured lightly in her ear as if she was a startled animal. Bearing his weight down on top of her back in an attempt to calm her down. All it served to do was cause her heartbeat to quicken with too much energy. Nerves fraying with each slow movement he carried out.

With her mark exposed so readily for him, he brushed along it with his slender fingers. Drawing a shudder from deep within her that made him sigh.

"I can't understand why you still hate me." There was a twinge of regret in his voice as he sat on her thighs. Palms pressing flat over her spine, running up and down before finally resting below her ass. Cupping the flesh there that was held in the leggings he provided for her. "I've only ever provided for you. I have kept you safe and comfortable. I'm keeping you with me for the collapse so we can start anew. And yet you deny me." He teased his fingers at the band of her pants. Tugging it down over the swell of her ass, weight pressing more firmly on her when she struggled to make him topple over the bed.

"Do you not see we are made for each other?" He spoke with reverence when he removed her pants fully, tossing them to the floor, eyes focusing on the flesh he exposed. "I don't know what devil has planted it in your mind that we are not meant to be, but surely your body can help remind you what is true."

Joseph pulled her panties to the side, holding his breath as he ran a finger up and down her slit, Combing through the hair before shoving in his middle finger. Knuckles pressed firmly against her ass as he roved around her walls. Fingers crooking upwards to make her whine into a pillow.

"You needn't silence yourself. I'm your husband, there's no reason to hide from me." His gentle reprimand wasn't enough, he deemed a second later, as he pulled out his finger, wrapping his tongue around his digit to taste her. He grabbed onto her hips, squeezing in some semblance of a warning before flipping her on her back.

"I see the fear in your eyes." He observed as he crept up her body, fully sitting on her stomach so when he leaned down, he could meet her lips. It wasn't a full kiss, more of a brush of skin that he left lingering there. Almost waiting for her to reciprocate. When nothing came, and she remained tense under his body, he drew back. Now a frown on his face and disapproval shining in his eyes. 

He reached forward to lift her slightly off the bed, shoving her into his chest to give him access to her bra clasps. With a practiced wrist, he tossed her bra into the growing pile of clothes on the floor.

"Please don't, I'm not ready." Rook had resorted to pleading, looking up at him with large eyes as he cradled her to his torso. Pressing them close together, so her breasts were shoved between them. His fingers were tangled in her hair, rubbing at her scalp and flicking his eyes over her features.

"Your body says otherwise. And that is what I am trying to show you, that you may not feel ready but there is a part of you that understands that you are meant to be with me." He smiled wide at her. Tipping their heads together lovingly and easing her to lie on her back a moment later. "Let me guide you Rook." Joseph shifted to place himself between her legs. Tugging at his belt and bearing himself to her the same way she had been forced to for him.

Joseph didn’t release his tight hold on her open legs until he was fit snugly between. 

“Just like that child.” His voice dropped down to a whisper right by her mouth when he sunk into her. Offering gentle hands rubbing circles into her waist as he gave rolls of his hips until he was halfway inside and her walls squeezed tight around him. The tightness had him breathing out easy. Exhaling onto the curve of her breast before he popped a nipple into his mouth. Tongue teasing along the tight bud in a futile effort to ease her frazzled nerves. Trying fruitlessly to make her muscles relax so he could sink fully inside her heat.

After minutes of silence, save for the wet noise of his mouth traveling along her chest, he finally gave a harsher thrust to push himself in up to the hilt. He pulled back away from her, hands pressed flat on either side of her head. 

“Look at how well we are together.” He casted another long glance her way before looking downward. To where he was steadily moving in and out of her with obscene sounds filling the room. “You’re taking me so well, accepting me as a wife should.”

He sped up, rosary digging into her hip as he steadied his hand on her skin for balance. He angled his hips upward. Hitting a spot that made her whine despite herself. It was getting harder to deny the pleasure he was giving her when it had been so long since she laid with a man.

“Let go of your pride child, let me hear you.”

She didn't have much of a choice. She knew that for a fact. Joseph was persistent and more patient than she could've ever imagined any sane person could be. She let a soft moan slip on a hard thrust. Her arms reached up to pull him down, to show him that she was there. She was his, he could calm down and understand that the soulmark they shared was true. It had to be with how close she already was. With how her body was responding, singing with jubilance each time he struck a spot deep inside her that made Rook cry out with her head rolled back. Exposing the skin on her neck for him to lean down and kiss. He pulled at the skin on her throat with sharp teeth until he felt her tighten up around his cock.

“There. You get it, don't you darling? How can you deny me any longer?”

“I--I won't. I’m not going to. Joseph, let me..can I just--”

“I’m here.” He assured with soft words. I am right here darling. Finish for me, show me what you’re capable of.”

She came around his length, pushing up into him with hips matching his rhythm as he fucked her through it. Mellowing out as he spilled deep inside her with a low moan that reverberated through her bones.

Joseph eased on top of her once more. Staying inside her fluttering cunt as her heart rate returned to normal. His head rested between her breasts, pressing a kiss to her skin to replace his kind words. That didn’t mean his threats weren’t there, floating along the surface for her to remember her place beside him.

“Till death do us part. That’s what our vows said.”


	6. Joseph/Rook Seeing Is Believing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Rook finds Joseph in a moment of vulnerability while experiencing his fabled talks with The Voice.
> 
>  
> 
> That might've been the moonlight making him appear human for once and not some untouchable god. Yet something was off in his stance. In how his hair was close to slipping out of his bun

Rook was only wandering, hands shoved deep in her pockets as she whistled a soft tune. One that was not ‘Cult Classics’ for once. Something offbeat that matched the pounding of her thumping feet. Kicking pebbles that were tearing at the tips of her shoes almost as bad as the constant traveling had done.

She needed to stop buying guns and invest in a car for once.

Her clothes were torn, and she knew she looked like a fucking mess. Not having a home would do that to someone. The muscles in her thighs were twitching restlessly, as if amping up for an encounter she didn’t know about coming up ahead. Her eyes were strained, squinting into the horizon and taking in the weaning light falling around her. It was almost peaceful in a way. Picture perfect the way a postcard might be.

She was tempted to walk further in the bush that lay ahead of her. Veer off the beat-up road that she came across that was winding, bending further along to the right where she couldn’t see. Though she could hear. If she stood and tuned out the chirping crickets awakening as night came along, she could hear the sound of laughter. Cheers too. It made Rook smile softly as she leaned her side against the side of a large fence topped off with barbed wire.

Her eyes scanned along the treeline, opting to go somewhere that wasn’t right in the center of Peggie homeland. Rook pushed herself along, head kept downward as she breathed in deep, nose scrunching up a second later at the smell of smoke. It was recognizable after some time in Hope County, used to hanging along in the forest only to see a man with a flamethrower on the side of the road. The thought had her stopping dead in her tracks out of fright. Some deep-rooted fear of running into a man who could set her on fire had her ducking low only to pause halfway on her sprint for cover.

It was coming from a broke down car. A black SUV that could seat a family of 6 that looked too fancy to be sitting on the edge of the woods, forgotten about and abandoned. Thick smoke was pouring out from the engine, reaching up into the air and making her gag as it curled around her.

And just like that, she was on high alert for a whole new reason. Rook had helped people from all across the County. Walking on the road as a virtual hitchhiker made her chances of running into people that much higher. Whether she was just passing through or not, she could always stop and see where she was needed. It’s what gave her a shining reputation in such a short time. Also what made the Seeds come after her so ruthlessly. She was right up there on their hit list. But she had to admit that it was worth it. It kept her so far apart from the Seed family, made her that much different when she was met with smiling faces whenever she approached someone.

Besides, other than looking for a place to sleep, she wasn’t needed anywhere. She could spare her time to at least make sure no one was injured.

She jogged up to the car, hand pressing flat to the door before she yanked it open. There was a small voice in the back of her head hoping that this didn’t belong to anyone. She’s seen it before, the occasional car left to rot with the word sinner scrawled over the hood in dripping paint. Or even the nicer looking vehicles that were so obviously belonging to someone dead and gone. This one was fancy, no way anyone would leave their car so close to the cusp of Joseph’s Island without it being a dire situation. They were either a Peggie, in which she had no worries about stealing this car, or the owner had been chased off, leaving their valuables inside because they valued their life more than their possessions. And in that case, she was sure sleeping in the car for the night would be understood.

Rook climbed in shakily, feeling a wave of guilt as she reached over to lower the passenger side seat down for her to lie in. She wouldn’t drive off with it, with the smoke pouring out of the engine and obscuring her view she honestly doubted that was even an option. What she would do however is snoop around. That she has done countless of times. Picking up stray notes and coming across pictures that tore at her heart. It kept her human, reminded her that after all she had been through that there was something inside her still able to feel empathy.

Huddled inside the car, knees shoved under her as she sat in the driver's seat, she opened up the center console, shifting around receipts, loose change and a dark shade of sunglasses that had an orange tinge to them. Her hand froze around the handle of a pistol. No surprise there, but she still took the time to unload it. Laying it on the dashboard before twisting around to take in the scene of the back seat. She caught sight of a black vest and white button up that could be used as a blanket if she got desperate. Rook stretched back, hand scrambling to grab at the items to dump them in her lap, jumping slightly when a picture fell in her hands.

Bingo. She always found a picture, a letter. A piece of something from some innocent person’s life that fueled that wrath of hers that John loved to talk about.

She tilted it in her hands. Fingers rubbing at where it was faded the most from countless of times of it being held. It was well loved, creases permanently embedded in it as if someone carried it with them at all times. Shoving it in their wallet or in the back of their jeans.

Rook couldn’t help but smile. A laugh slipping out maybe a little too loud as she brought it closer to her face. It was a goat. A tiny baby goat, too large ears sticking out of frame with the start of horns poking out of its head. There was a hand extending towards it, knuckle rubbing at the animal under his jaw.

“You have already taken so many belonging to my flock, do you intend to steal my car too?”

She startled from where she sat, stumbling to unfold her legs from beneath her to get back on steady ground that was even with the preacher that snuck up on her.

Rook held the picture tight in her grasp when she swirled around. Guilt written over her face even though she has done worse to hurt Joseph and his project. Though this felt too personal.

"Are you trying to gather information about me Rook?" He smiled at her, but she saw past him, was able to see the way his mask slipped. How his lips were quivering, almost sliding into a frown before he dropped the facade. A gentle sigh slipping out between them.

"I didn't know it was yours. Just looking for a place to sleep." Rook shouldered her bag, thumb hooked under a worn strap as she took weary steps towards Joseph. Who looked more demure than usual. That might've been the moonlight making him appear human for once and not some untouchable god. Yet something was off in his stance. In how his hair was close to slipping out of his bun and how his glasses had made firm imprints on his skin, as if they had been pushed up every five seconds and had rubbed a path into his flesh.

Standing directly in front of him made it worse. She could notice how wide his pupils were. Like he was high. But this was Joseph, not John, she had to remind herself. It was a possibility, but no, not one that she could stomach.

Her hand held out the picture she had been looking over with fondness before he interrupted. His own hand swayed when he reached out for it, missing the photo completely and grabbing at her wrist.

Rook didn't have enough time to react before it happened. The only warning she got was how his eyes fluttered shut. Then he was collapsing. Slamming into her and dragging them both to the ground with his dead weight.

Her first thought was full of fear, of terrified voices telling her she just witnessed a murder she couldn't even explain. Just as quickly as he had fallen, now in a tangle of limbs in her lap, he was awake. Whines slipping free past his mouth, fingers clenching on the material of her shirt. Grabbing at cloth and looping around her waist as he let out another sound that echoed around them.

"Joseph?" The use of his name didn't do shit. She wasn't even sure he could hear her from how panicked he suddenly was. Trying to get back on his feet only to realize he was too weak and that he couldn't support his weight. And there was no way Rook was about to help him rise. Not when she had no clue what was wrong with him. She wasn't about to risk getting backhanded for her efforts.

He was on his knees, clutching at his head with a not so gentle grip. Yanking at his hair and pulling the band out that always held it up. His breathing spiked when she moved, crunching leaves under her as she stood.

She could leave, it’d be as simple as that. Just turning around and going back the way she came. No one would know that she didn't take advantage of Joseph's weakness. It was almost too easy. She was still waiting for the catch. Hesitant eyes scanning over the forest and landing back on Joseph.

His low sound of pain reached her ears, tugging at her heart worse than she thought capable.

“Joseph.” Rook trudged forward, forcing her steps until she could crouch down by his side. Carefully reaching out until he took the hint and fell into her arms.

He seemed so small in that moment. Less than a god that he never even claimed to be though he fit the role perfectly. He wasn’t on her level, he was down below, further than she ever realized he could reach. A few hours ago she thought him untouchable. And now here he was, upper body halfway lying on her lap with legs curled inward. As if becoming smaller would ease the pain he felt and stop the visions from playing behind closed eyelids.

His nose was scrunched as he tried to open a single eye. One that wasn't pressing into her side. Rook moved faster this time. Cupping the side of his face to keep him from sagging in her lap.

“Still you don’t believe.” His voice was a wreck when he finally decided to use it, hacking at the end of his sentence. “If you saw what I am seeing now Rook.” He ended his words with a low cry. Hands suddenly frantic, struggling to entangle them closer together to where she had to shift to yank him into her lap where he was straddling her. Spine curved and bent when she dragged his head down to bury in her neck. The effect her presence had on him wasn’t immediate. It took long enough for the moon to fully rise in the sky before he had relaxed against her. Tiny whimpers leaving his lips that she shushed with a hand rubbing the tension away at his temples.

“Do you think I’m crazy?” Joseph pushed closer to her, raising his head up from her throat to press their cheeks together. Making her freeze at the scrape of his beard along her skin.

“I think--” She breathed in deep, blood running cold when he pulled back enough for their eyes to meet. There was hope reflecting in his gaze, perspiration lining his brow and making his downed hair curl at the ends. “I think you believe what you are seeing Joseph. You are seeing something,”

“The collapse.” He corrected, clarified when she skipped over that detail.

“Yeah. That. You’re seeing the collapse. You see fire and destruction that resorts you to a scared man who sought out my comfort. You see that, I can’t deny it.”

“You realizing that I can see these visions and you believing these visions are real are two different questions Rook.” Joseph was putting back up his mask. Fitting back into his little box where he was calm and composed, a leader for wayward souls to flock towards. His words were still shaky and his appearance was lacking its usual suaveness, but he was trying. Shifting back into place so easily that it was almost scary.

“You didn’t answer my question. Do you think I’m crazy?” He was bearing down on top of her. Still straddling her, sitting snugly in her lap, now he was more alert. Shaking off his vision as if it hadn’t just happened, with a tight iron grip on her shoulders that was slowly moving up to hold her jaw in his hands.

“I don’t know what you expected to gain from this Joseph, I’m not about to join just because--”

“I’m not asking you to join right now!” There was an uncharacteristic anger flaring in his eyes as he stood. Shoving off her and making her back slam into the ground before she was stood to be on level ground with him. “I need you to tell me that I am not crazy. Just believe me.” His voice dropped down to a whisper. Shoulders hunched in on himself with him facing away from her. “That’s all I ask of you. I didn’t ask you to stay and help, though you did child, and for that I will always remember. That you are capable of something other than wrath is a good sign. But all I truly want is for you to believe. We can walk away from each other and both go back home and forget this moment of mercy you have shown me.” He turned towards her, looking more like a saint than he first did when she walked in to arrest him with sun basking down on him and his siblings.

“The difference could be that I walk from this horrific memory with the knowledge that you do not think my ramblings are utterly insane. What will it be Rook? Will you grant me that one last request?”

He was putting her on the spot, forcing her to make a decision that he knew would have her floundering.

“Please child.” He stumbled closer when she didn’t move. Gaze going right back to that layer of vulnerability that made her tremble. And he knew it, he could see the choices raging through her mind.

“Say it.” He drew their heads together when they were close enough. Her hands moved on their own accord, reaching up to tangle in his long hair, greasy and thinned out from being tied up too tightly. She rubbed at his skull, as if he was still suffering from his vision, like the light tremors running through him would stop all together with just a gentle touch.

“I believe you Joseph.”


	7. Jacob/Rook Keeping Warm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request:
> 
> It was the first time Rook was truly afraid she might die. And to none of the Seeds, not peggies or even a rabid animal. She was going to drop dead because of bad weather.
> 
> The irony was palpable.
> 
> And she might laugh. If her lips weren’t frozen and she could feel her jaw. She couldn’t though, and her gaze was sweeping around as she squinted, searching for any place to take shelter. At this point she might just hole up in a damn outpost if it meant not getting frostbite.

She had been walking for miles. Arms crossed over her torso in some desperate, pitiful attempt to keep herself warm as snow fell around her. She really can’t remember anyone warning her of snow since she drove up to the mountains, and yet she was caught in the middle of exactly that. 

 

A blizzard she guessed. With rough winds whipping her hair in front of her face and biting at her skin, which was now turning a concerning tone of reddish purple. 

 

It was the first time Rook was truly afraid she might die. And to none of the Seeds, not peggies or even a rabid animal. She was going to drop dead because of bad weather. 

 

The irony was palpable. 

 

And she might laugh. If her lips weren’t frozen and she could feel her jaw. She couldn’t though, and her gaze was sweeping around as she squinted, searching for any place to take shelter. At this point she might just hole up in a damn outpost if it meant not getting frostbite.

 

“Keep up. Can’t have you dying on me so quick.”

 

Like she said, if she wasn’t so damn cold she might have the audacity to bite back at him. Deliver some snarky reply that would make him turn on her and get up in her face with an imposing stance that would have a lesser man pissing himself. Though all she really did was waddle along a little bit faster to match Jacob’s speed. Of course he was marching along, acting like the harsh weather didn’t affect him in the slightest. 

 

Some bullshit about being strong and all that. 

 

Jacob was the one whose eyes were sharp enough to pick up the scraggly, uneven shapes ahead. Rook kept the same pace as he stomped further along. She was too afraid of falling in the snow to move much faster, her loose hoodie wouldn’t do much to protect her if that was the case. And she was sure Jacob wouldn’t have any sympathy for her. 

 

Rook did end up falling. Stumbling over concealed rocks. The same large rocks that formed the beginning of a cave. A huge open mouth that wasn’t bright in the slightest was what greeted them. Their only means of shelter at this point until the storm passed, no telling how long that would be. 

 

There might be wolves, and she couldn’t feel her fingers, much less hold a gun and shoot at any animals that decided to jump out at her. But her bones were aching and she just needed to lie down. Jacob could protect her, he had deemed himself her captor so he could keep his cargo safe. 

 

A fire could wait it seemed in his mind, as could food. His thoughts driven towards the fact that they just needed a way to get away from the wind. So he tugged her along by the arms when her footsteps started stuttering. 

 

Their footsteps echoed, making for the only sound that she could hear once they found themselves far enough inside the cave. Getting swallowed by the thing to the point where she was worried they wouldn’t be able to find their way out with the twists and turns he was taking. 

 

“Gotta get ya warm.” He was more speaking to himself as he deposited her alongside a spiked wall jutting out with rocks. 

 

Rook remained plaint, content to watch him work his magic in order to survive. And she had to admit, he was proficient. A master at his craft. Moving with efficiency as he pulled things out of a bag she’s never seen him carry. It was packed lightly for the storm they were braving, but it was way more practical than what she had.

 

_ Really dep? Fishing magazines? You tryin’ to get yourself killed? _

 

She could still hear Jacob’s admonishing voice, and that had her giggling softly for some re her mind couldn’t understand. Body gently veering off to the side and down down down until she collapsed on rough stone. 

 

“Fucks sake.” Jacob’s fingers were cold as they picked her back up. Half dragging half carrying her to where he set up camp in their dimly lit cave. 

 

It was a tiny crevice, a lucky find that had huge boulders on either side of them that would diminish the wind. Creating a closeness between the two of them to keep them somewhat warm. It was a snug fit, that’s for sure. It ended up with Jacob shifting until his back his the solid mass of a rock and her sitting between his splayed legs. 

 

The fire was dim, not sitting too close because Jacob wasn’t stupid and everything on his person was somewhat flammable. He’s been burnt before and that amount of pain wasn’t worth the risk of hypothermia. 

 

“You with me pup?” He smacked at her face with a not so gentle hand. Angling her jaw upward so he could peer into hazy eyes when she finally managed to blink them open and turn them on him. “Good girl.” 

 

The praise was close to that she’s heard across the radio right when he threatened her and ran halfway across the mountainside just to snag her the first chance he got. If he wasn’t so hellbent on starting her conditioning they wouldn’t be in this mess. She wouldn’t have to hear his gravelly rough voice that dipped and dropped at just the right times. Etching in a breathyness that made her squirm. 

 

“We should lie down, maybe that’ll help.” Her voice squeezed out in the relative silence. 

 

There was a light huff. Maybe amusement or annoyance. He didn’t give her a chance to amend it, only tilting them down. Hugging her snugly to him. Her back to his chest.

 

She drew her knees up to her chest. Arms curling in tight to her breasts. Cringing when Jacob heaved a heavy arm around her midsection. Tightening as a threat. Telling her easily,  _ you’re not going anywhere  _

 

It was fine, she was freezing, fatigue clouding her mind. Urging her to sleep to at least forget about the chill invading her bones. His heat wasn’t helping, nor was him squirming to get closer. Yet she still pressed further back into him. Ass hitting right where his crotch was.

 

And...Fuck. He’s hard. When did that happen? 

 

Rook’s unsure. It’s not like it matters. But she felt like she should be a little more on her game to realize that his breathing had definitely hastened, that his hips shifting wasn’t from a need to get closer in a futile attempt to leech the heat her body was producing. 

 

He was getting off on it. Slotting the thick line of his cock in the cleft of her ass. Risking—as a horny idiot might—getting frostbite on his dick. Or what little he had pulled out from his jeans. 

 

She bit down harshly on her lip when he moaned, loud and echoing in their enclosed space. 

 

“You’re awake pup.”

 

Fuck.

 

She could feign it really. No harm in trying. Unless you counted being rutted against a crime, then she was fine with pretending. To keep up the rouse to protect her pride. Because in no way did she need Jacob Seed to beam with satisfaction when he came to the realization that she was getting affected by how his body rubbed up along hers and how she was getting wetter with the breathy moans he was letting out.

 

“I see ya rubbing your thighs together, trying to get something out of this all by yourself.” The grunt he let out was from exertion as he propped himself up on an elbow. Deft fingers that moved too nicely with how stupidly cold it was, eased around to her front. Rubbing at her carefully through her pants. Only teasing the idea of ridding her of the offending fabric when he sharply tugged at the material. Letting it snap against her skin with a dull  _ thwap.  _ “Want some help?”

 

“God you’re a fucking dog.” Her elbow slammed back, catching him somewhere in the ribs. He laughed it off, mumbling something under his breath that suspiciously sounded like, ‘cute.’ 

 

“You love it.”

 

And she did. God help her but she did. The evidence was right between her thighs. Showing too clearly when he pressed on her cunt through her pants and she pushed up into it. Seaking what he previously offered. 

 

Jacob didn’t ask again. He didn’t need to when his hand moved and she produced a low whine. Her pants and panties were shoved down, getting caught at her bent knees. It didn’t matter. Not when his cock was already sliding along her exposed folds. It was enough. Left him a little more restricted than what he was used to working with, but a man couldn’t complain. 

 

It was...

 

“So damn perfect.” His bottomed out in one go, head dipping into the crook of her neck and breathing hotly on her skin as he slid in closer. “Fucking tighter than I thought.”

 

Rook’s head fell forward. Cheek lying against cool rock, jolting with each thrust coming from behind. Ramming against a tight bundle of nerves each time he slammed into her. 

 

Jacob reached around for her leg, raising it up and keeping her perfectly spread for him. It hit a new area, made her slap the ground repeatedly, like she was tapping out of a fight and not being fucked so perfectly.

 

His forearm wrapped around her neck, dragging her back to rest on his chest. Keeping them flush together and leaving her no way out.

 

“You’re already close.” He barked a laugh, fingers barely brushing on her nipple. “I can feel you tightening around me, feels a little like this.” His arm wrapped around her neck, closing off her windpipe. Teasing the idea of knocking her out right then. Leaving him to finish and her unsatisfied, probably waking up in a cage miles from here. 

 

“Come for me, quick.” He was breathing right near her ear, smacking skin against skin. Arm still tight over her throat. “Tick tock Deputy.” A subtle warning, one that she should heed, lest he made good on his threat. 

 

With no help from him and the lightheadedness making her limbs heavy, she relied on his cock alone to tip her over the edge. Whining and thrusting down on him until everything exploded white. Seeming too much like the bliss with how her eyes couldn’t function and she went completely limp. 

 

A few seconds later she felt him spill into her. Thrusts faltering until all his muscles went lax. Arm loosening to rest across the span of her torso. Rubbing along the ridges of her ribs.

 

“Good girl.” 

 


	8. Faith/Joseph Chosen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: When Rachel Jessop became Faith Seed
> 
> This was what God wanted of her. This was a privilege. There was honor behind it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the small hiatus I took for the last couple of days, life got a little hectic

This wasn't a right.

This was a privilege. A gift.

He never let her forget that. Kept on repeating that sentiment whenever he saw doubt or sensed some underlying ungratefulness. Joseph would lean in close with a hand on her shoulder and whisper in her ear. Spinning tales mixed in with half-truths that made her pupils blow wider than the drugs ever had. 

“You understand, don’t you Faith?” Not Rachel, but Faith. A faux name for the lifestyle he was building around her. Erecting walls in her mind to close off the part of her that was eager to run back to her friends, to at least explain her choices if nothing else.

He’d smile at her with empathy in his eyes as he brushed at her hair one last time with the love of a father.

This was what God wanted of her, it was fate that led her to be lucky enough to stumble along the path of Joseph. A man who spoke to God was placed in her life, telling her that He had chosen her for this role. To be named a Seed, no longer Jessop. It was an upgrade her newly acquired brothers never hesitated to tell her.

“You trust me. Enough to let me place my faith inside of you and fully bring you into my family.” He was kneeling down to her level from where she sat in a hard wooden chair. He intertwined his long fingers with her dainty and uncalloused ones. “Think of this a reward Faith.” A name that he used constantly for weeks that she was finally getting used to it. Not delaying her reaction anymore whenever someone called for her and she didn’t hear Rachel fall from their tongue.

A privilege. There was honor behind it.

“I understand Father.” Her first words spoken since he brought her to a tiny back room connecting to his church and pushed a pleated dress in her arms with great expectations in his eyes.

She didn’t disappoint. Didn’t argue. Rach-- Faith dressed fast, allowed him to brush back her hair that he had told her he preferred worn long. She stayed still when he arranged a circlet of flowers along her head. White petals permeating the air with a sickly sweet smell she was meant to get used to overexposure and weeks of being around the Seeds. At that time she wasn’t aware that they were considering her. She still felt weak back then. Unworthy of the Seed’s generosity as they welcomed her with open arms.

“You’re ready child.” That word still made her shudder. A reaction she needed to hide. It was a term of endearment she had never experienced. But she was supposed to be on the same level as Joseph and his brothers, that meant not quivering at his shows of affection like the rest of his flock.

“You’ve shown to me the devotion you carry in your heart and I fully accepted that, as I have you. And for this, you will serve me as asked, right Faith?” Everything was posed as a question, a way to trip her up on such a final and crucial step of something edging towards an initiation. A gateway into this thing she didn’t dare call anything less than a religion. It had to be with her savior being Joseph, the only man who trusted her enough to let her in. To see past the drug-fueled rebellious teenager she was. He held her like her own father never had. Joseph was a fine replacement, taking her in and entrusting her with a territory that equated to an empire under the command of a girl who only just turned 19.

Faith breathed in. Inhaling green, sparkly pollen that had her swaying into the touch of Joseph’s lips on her brow. There was no other answer, she didn’t have much of a choice. She was too far in. Leaving now, trying to run from the gleam in his eyes wouldn’t work. Others have tried, she wasn't that naive.

She had an answer for him, ready to be shared in the little bubble they created as they huddled close together.

“Yes Father, always. I trust you. I believe in you. You’ve never led me astray, and I will aid you the same.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m running low on requests, would anyone care to send in some more


	9. John/Rook Age

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How old do I look then?” There was some underlying current of anxiety there that she picked up on. He must’ve heard it too in his own voice judging from the way he winced a moment later. Refusing to meet her eyes as she searched his face. Acting like she was really thinking about his question.
> 
> “Dunno. Maybe 40-ish.”
> 
> “Forty.” He deadpanned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requests?

“What?”

John stood with his hip cocked, hand resting on his side while the other wielded a revolver as a teasing threat. The damn thing probably wasn’t even loaded.“What does that have to do with anything?” 

“Just curious is all. It’s come up quite a few times.” Rook’s body was too relaxed for this situation, she had just found some footing that canceled out the fact that she had been caught sneaking around in his home. She leaned back on her palms on his plush bed. Slinking down into the blankets as she looked at John from head to toe. Landing back on his annoyed expression. 

“Do you speak about me often deputy?” He smiled saccharine sweet. It was fake as all hell, that was clear when he took a few steps forward and she could see the anger flashing in his eyes.

“You’re deflecting Johnny.” She stood easily, hopping to her feet and almost bumping chests with him. “Getting pretty defensive too for such a simple question. C’mon,” She leaned in close, tapping along his jaw. An action that had him grinding his teeth. “What do you have to hide?”

“I’m not hiding anything deputy. I’m an open book.”

“Right, and you’re 32 I bet.”

“I am!” He stomped his foot out against the hardened wooden floor of his bedroom. 

“Mhm.” Rook hummed gently. Eyes shining as she nudged him out of the way with a laugh. He was absolutely amusing. Each action or word that came from his mouth never failed to make her ring with jubilance. “I would’ve thought law school would take a man a while to finish.”

“For fucks sake.” John pinched the bridge of his nose, moving his fingers to rub away at the headache that was pulsing a beat in his skull. “How old do I look then?” There was some underlying current of anxiety there that she picked up on. He must’ve heard it too in his own voice judging from the way he winced a moment later. Refusing to meet her eyes as she searched his face. Acting like she was really thinking about his question.

“Dunno. Maybe 40-ish.”

“Forty.” He deadpanned. Face falling scarily flat as he took in her answer. Nodding slowly and rubbing at his chin before he too sauntering steps towards her. Pushing her further into a corner that she couldn’t escape from. “I know you’re lying. This has gotta be some fucking joke. Did Jacob put you up to this?” He pointed an accusatory finger directly in her face. 

“I haven’t spoken to Jacob since--”

He didn’t let her finish her sentence. Just slapped a heavy palm to the wall by the side of her head. Leaning in close to her, close enough that she could feel the heat coming off of his body. “Do I really look that old?”

“Forty’s not old John, no shame in it.” She flashed her teeth, and apparently that was a step too far for him. It had him laughing low under his breath. Bracing both hands on either side of her as he leaned his head against her collarbone. He chuckled again, the slight tip of his lips quirking upward as his beard brushed along her skin. He was falling back into what was comfortable territory. Trying to get back on top after exposing suck weak skin to an enemy. 

“Look at this.” Rook’s body locked up as she watched in shock horror as John scrambled to grab at the buttons of his vest. Tearing away at the material and moving on to his bright blue shirt.

“No, no, no. Nope.” She reached out to stop him. Grabbing his forearms and yanking them away from his shirt. “I’m good John, I believe you. I don’t need proof.”

“Apparently you do.” He seethed. Shaking her off easily and going back to the task at hand. Revealing more scarred skin and black inky tattoos. “You need something to tell your little resistance buddies to make all that fucking talk stop.” He stood in front of her, his shirt hanging off his elbows as he managed to shrug it off and onto the floor. His chest was heaving, fists clenched in childish anger.

“I swear to God if I hear any word, even the slightest talk about any...incorrect presumptions about my age Rook--”

“What? You’ll slice up my skin? Explain that to Joseph when I show up bleeding on his doorstep.”

John’s face twisted. Annoyance still radiating off him in waves. John nipped at his lower lip, keeping it in a tight grasp as he spoke through anger, “M’Kay, fine.” He blew out a deep breath. Huffing out air as his shoulders sagged. “Just let your group of sinners that you insist on hanging around know what you saw.” He was close enough to see the indecision in her eyes. The choiced flickering around on her face as she mulled around what he said. “You fucking better.”

“And if they don’t believe me?” She threw a laugh in just to piss him off more. “I mean I’m still struggling to catch up to what you’re doing. And I’m actually here right now, fuck,” she shook her head, still smiling, “I wouldn’t believe me.”

“Take a picture.”

“Wait,” Rook’s eyes went wide. Scanning his face for anything other than the seriousness he was emanating.

“You heard me.” He spread his arms wide, as if presenting himself bare from the waist up in compliments to his older brother was normal for John. “Take a picture, I don’t look forty or forty-ish. I am 32.” He was in her face again. Inches from her as he spoke carefully. 

“Fine. Your call John. Don’t say I didn’t tell you this was a bad idea. Cause it is.”

“Just do it. Stop stalling.”

The click of the camera was their way of goodbye before Rook slipped out of his window--the same way she came in--and made her break for the woods. Phone held tight in her hands because, everyone clear the way, she had precious cargo on it and she’d be damned if she couldn’t spread it like the plague. Word was gonna get out, if John wanted to act like a child and show off then who was she to deny him such an experience? 

She was a people pleaser after all.


	10. Joseph/Rook Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, his God had plans for them. That’s what Joseph told her with hands on her stomach despite not yet knowing if she was bearing his child. 
> 
> *Bunker AU; Joseph and Rook repopulate*

_“This isn’t meant to be easy. God wouldn’t have placed us here unless there was a lesson to be learned, child.”_

_“This is merely a test we need to overcome together.”_

_“Are you listening Rook? I miss the sound of your voice, even when you were disparaging me all those weeks ago when my brothers and sister were still standing.” He’d reach out to run coaxing fingers over closed lips that rested just above the blanket he had laid overtop of her. “I miss those eyes of yours, always so….perceptive.” His thumbs traced the outline of her eyes through clenched lids. Never placing pressure there, but it was enough for her muscles to twitch with anxiety in remembrance with what he had done in the past with those hands, the same ones that brought down divine justice and exacted murder on innocent people. “They showed wrath, but at times, when my men would report back to me, show me the pictures they took, oh I saw something other than brutal rage. Something I wanted only to protect. It brought back my paternal instincts in a different way than I had felt when leading my flock. I hadn’t experienced that since the birth of my daughter.”_

_“Know that I am here, waiting for you. My arms are always open.”_

Each time, without fail, he’d place a kiss to her forehead. Trailing a hand down the side of her face before he’d move on with his day. Making too much noise in their limited space. Preaching to God only knows who, because she sure as hell wasn’t listening.

That was her only indication of time passing. His fervent prayers that he seemed to cut out a chunk of time for, like God was running on a tight schedule after the end of the world. That was the first time she found herself grateful for Joseph. She tried to be cold hearted, tried shutting her emotions down when he was the one to bring her food, to press water to lips that had to be forced open.

He made it so hard on her, and he wasn’t even trying. The pieces all just fell into place for him. One minute she had woken up from her own recurring nightmares and the next she was sobbing into Joseph’s bare chest. Suddenly he was the one kissing her. Asking for comfort she had denied him, that she wasn’t even aware that he had needed. After all he had done for her it was only fair. That’s what she thought as he pushed her on her back and was quick to get in her personal space. She acted like it was a trade, fairs fair and all that shit that kept her from feeling guilt creep in.

Though that excuse fell apart real quick when it all happened again. Lacking the tears or nightmares the next few times around. Needing more than a hug when something inside her desperately ached. It didn’t matter that she was lying to herself, not when he was able to make her feel so good with hushed whispered and holy prayers coming off his lips in such a time of sin. He had pushed into her and connected their bodies as one. “Let God guide us, child. If He chooses to gift us with having the honor of starting the next holy generation than who are we to get in the way of that?” And he was so much more convincing when he was 6 inches deep inside her.

Apparently, his God had plans for them. That’s what Joseph told her with hands on her stomach despite not yet knowing if she was bearing his child. If he were just the right amount of crazy, he would fully admit that his touch alone had brought on the tiny swell of her belly that made her clothes tight. When he had caught sight of that bump he crowded in close, a trait she’d never get used to. “The Lord is at work Rook.” Mumbled between fervent kisses as he eased her back until her thighs hit the bed. “He has given us the best we could ever hope for.”

His happiness was infectious. Too good to ruin once they had found something to make the days less dull and the future less formidable. It made her forget about the pulsing pain around her body that had her curling up in the night into a tiny ball, and really so far into her pregnancy she should’ve known. Should have rolled over in the sweaty mess that she was and woke Joseph up. She let him sleep. Her gift to him in a way. Somehow repaying him for the mercy, he has granted her. After all, he was running himself ragged with stress.

She should’ve woken him up.

*****

“I’ve dealt with this kind of situation before Rook.” That was his favorite thing to say in the past half an hour since her contractions started and her screaming had startled him from sleep. “I went through this in a life that seems so long ago. You don’t have to worry. It’s in God’s hands. He has gifted me you and will give me the blessing of a new family. A new generation. I have confidence in the Lord.”

She wished she had his faith. That she could lie back and let Joseph handle it, but she was urging him to go faster, not caring if he so believed she was in the hands of a higher power.

Joseph laid out the softest towels they Dutch had stocked the bunker with beneath her. Helping her raise her hips when her own efforts to move proved futile. He wiped away the sweat that had gathered along her brow and disappeared between her legs with a gleeful hum. So excited to meet his child that he showed no concern about what was bound to go wrong.

They didn’t have anything. Simple as that. They weren’t ready. They had the complicated foundation of love crafted between them, but that wasn’t enough.

Rook had to admit, he had patience. He pried her legs apart each time her muscles spasmed and she tried to curl on her side. He would let her squeeze his hand tight through each contraction.

She hadn’t seen real fear on his face until he dipped his head to check her progress. She could see the light go out of her eyes. She could pinpoint the exact moment all that happiness blinked out of existence and all that was left was pure fear.

“Rook.” He mumbled her name out as if in prayer. “Please stay still, just wait darling.” His voice shook. Wobbled awfully to the point where she did pause. Kept herself completely still as his fingers poked and prodded.

“Shit.”

The one time she had ever heard Joseph curse was during sex. It was filled with bliss and reverence. She had felt so much pride all those months ago. Now a sob was rising from her throat as she propped herself up on her elbows. “Joe? Is it--”

“It’s fine.” But it wasn’t. She could tell how not fine it was as he grabbed a stray towel hanging off the side of the bed to press between her legs. He made the mistake of pulling the material away too far, far enough for her to catch the splash of red staining the cotton.

He was mumbling a quick prayer under his breath. Wiping away the blood that kept rushing out of her. His hands weren’t gentle anymore. They moved with efficiency. Firm grip holding her, weighing down when she began to panic. Cries and whimpers falling from her lips.

“Does it hurt?” His question was met with an awful ear piercing scream mingled with panted out curse words.

He was back between her splayed thighs. Trying desperately to see any sign of the life they had created. “It’s going to be okay, in a few hours everything will be just as I envisioned it.” He shook his head, fingers roving around and collecting blood clots. “Please Lord, please.”

Joseph stopped telling her things would be okay. He resorted to making soft shushing noises that did little to help over the screams of pain she was letting out. He didn’t tell her of the mess playing out before him. That he was afraid God would be cruel and make him choose over the woman in his life or his child. He begged to a higher power which he feared had finally led him astray. He began worrying that God had left him, that after the end it was only him and Rook. Left alone and stumbling blindly in the darkness.

He had gone through countless wet rags by the time he actually saw something that he could identify as a body part. He bit his tongue on his prayers. No time for that when he could clearly see wiggling toes.

Toes, not a head.

“Rook, breathe for me. This is going to hurt.”

“Joseph,” Her eyes were wide at the prospect of more pain. It already hurt, she couldn’t imagine it being worse. “I can’t, really I can’t.”

“You don’t have a choice.” It came out rougher than he intended. An angry snarl that made her shrink back into the mattress as she braced herself for whatever he was about to do. “Think about our child Rook, take this suffering now, and He will reward you greatly.” Joseph wasn’t sure he even believed his own words.

Rook passed out soon enough, small mercies in that regard. Because Joseph practically had his entire hand shoved inside of her. Cheek resting on her inner thigh, smearing blood along his face that he would worry about later. He was going entirely off of touch. Rooting around her insides like she was nothing more than a corpse. He didn’t know if he was making things better or worse. If he was only serving to tear her more than their child would have if she came out feet first.

Because what he did know was that it was a baby girl. He choked those words through a sob, told Rook of that fact even though she was unconscious. Chest barely moving, or was it moving at all?

Joseph didn’t worry about being careful anymore. He was rushing things. Speeding up the process Rook’s body should be doing naturally.

It was bittersweet really. Holding his newborn was supposed to evoke joy in him. How is it that fate was cruel enough to rewind his life back twenty-something years to when he was all alone? His brothers and sister were dead and gone. Nothing more than ash since the bombs dropped. And the woman who he fully considered his wife…she...she was...

“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh, hm child?” He was getting more blood on her than she already had endured through her entrance into the world. Just like before he found himself utterly alone. Left with a child who would grow to resent him. For how could she adore a father who had nothing to offer, not even the love of a secondary parent or the knowledge or even the strength to keep her secure.

He clung to her tight, smothering her in his chest. Pulling away when she sputtered and cried out. With empty eyes he moved robotically. Performing the task of getting her clean and swaddling her in the last non-dirted blanket he could find.

He sang, he held onto the newly formed life that came at such a high price. He sang to keep from yelling out curses at the God that forced Joseph to be left in a situation that made death seem preferable for him and the child he begrudgingly soothed with kisses to the apple of her cheek.

“The Lord seems quite intent on taking doesn’t he?” Joseph laughed sarcastically. Slamming down on his knees with little regard for how much it would hurt. “He’s making me doubt. Making hatred harbor in my soul. How could such a man be the same who I believed to have mercy over me? No,” Joseph breathed in deep, wincing at the metallic smell of blood that already seemed embedded in the bunker walls. “You expect me to trust in you after this? You expect my daughter to grow old with your name safe on her lips? Or did you know that her and I would live denouncing you? Surely you knew Lord.”

 


	11. John/Rook Last Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Soulmate au with John

“You don’t understand. You don’t believe. You don’t care!”

The world was a cruel place. It was harsh and vindictive and would pick you up to take you on a rollercoaster ride that would leave you feeling bereft and unsatisfied more often than not.

Though that’s how it goes when you remain ignorant only to realize at the last second what could’ve been, what you could’ve had or the hardships that could’ve been avoided if only you _knew._

Because she was kneeling on the dirty ground, not caring much that mud was gathering on the palms of her hands or that John Seed was staring up at her like he was praying to God that she would drop dead. And suddenly it clicked. She knew before he did, she heard those words tumble out of his mouth and she wanted to interrupt, to clap a hand over his lips and tell him to just shut up.

As if that would make this all go away. Like at the end of the day John wouldn’t be bound to her, mind, body and soul.

Already she could feel the connection grow shaky as he struggled taking in the smallest of breaths. It wasn’t fair. Simple as that. The world slapped her in the face, told her ‘here he is! the man you've been yearning for since you were old enough to understand the concept of soulmates, and now you get to watch as your sins devour him whole and steal him away.’

“John…” There were tears in her eyes. Making her vision of him all the more blurry. She thought, in the very least, she’d have some relationship to her soulmate that wasn’t the bitter mess her and John had. But she knew his words; You don’t understand. You don’t believe. You don’t care!, she knew it for as long as she could remember. Seared into her skin, his last words. They didn’t spell out a happy ending, but she thought the beginning would mark a time for joy.

If she had known, if soulmarks didn’t operate the way they did, then she could’ve saved this shell of a man dying before her. All she had to remember her soulmate by was those gruesome memories he bestowed her with and the throbbing tattoo on her chest.

Rook leaned forward in the dirt. Relished in the way he was holding tight to her wrist, it may be out of anguish, a last fight to keep her away from the key around his throat, but she could pretend it was because he knew who she was to him. And with that heavy thought she didn’t need any more of a reason to slide her lips against his before she could question if it was right or not.

The man deserved it. After the hell she put him through and the life she so ruthlessly stole from him, he needed to understand. So she poured every ounce of adoration in that kiss. It lacked teeth and it made him go still. “I love you.” Her last words to him. As a young boy, him knowing his soulmates last words to him were a sentiment of endearment...neither one of them could’ve imagined this.

John gave a quick scoff, something he only threw up in the air between them to hide his imperceivable gasp. Yet he couldn’t cover up the way his pupils dilated from an awful mixture of surprise and pain all wrapped in one terrible force that struck her directly in her heart.

“May God have mercy on your soul.”

John fell back in the dirt as she gave a light tug on the key around his neck. She cradled that thing close. Clutched it to her chest and noticed how it was still warm from dangling in the V of his unbuttoned shirt. She picked up the radio on her belt and called for Joseph. She whispered the words that she now knew, revealed it to him and apologized endlessly for fate being so, so cruel.


	12. John/Rook Fatigue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Fluff with John

She was panting, chest heaving from the exertion of wriggling around on the mattress and trying to shove the 5”10 man off of her.

John’s head was jammed in the crook of her neck. Breathing hotly across her skin and making her slick with sweat. He was cozied up against her, leg slung over her body to keep her rooted down where she lay.

“John.” Her arms came up from where they were wedged between their bodies to give a light shake. Hands braced on his shoulders and moving up to cup his cheeks a moment later. Tugging him away from her throat. Up close the way they were, with him seeming almost serene and blissfully unaware of the hard days work that was ahead, he was cute.

Brows not pinched for once and mouth hanging open slightly. All lax and heavy muscles weighing down on top of her. Almost completely bare save for the sinfully tight boxers he wore. The warmth he was exuding might’ve been reason enough to convince her to stay. As well as the cocoon of blankets he must’ve wrapped around the two of them in the middle of the night when she was fast asleep and he was battling insomnia. But unlike him, she had an early start each and every day.

It’s not like she hasn’t heard his complaints before. Phone calls came when he finally woke up just as the sun rose and he was all alone. Bleary words tripping over each other as he expressed his unhappiness mixed in with the constant bantering when she arrived home and he was more cranky than usual. Lately their days ended with them tucked safe in bed with him yanking her close and asking her to stay a little bit longer in the morning.

“At least until I wake up.” He’d frown in the darkness, pressing into her side much like he was now. “We could take a shower together, make some breakfast.” Speaking wistfully as he pressed chaste kisses to her lips. It was too domestic for John, yet he begged for it. Guess she should’ve seen it coming for him to take matters into his own hands.

“Johnny?”

The response she got when she dropped his head into the swell of her chest was him shuffling impossibly closer. That and the dreamy grin he had on, finally coming around and barely taking note of her protests.

“Mornin’ dep.” With slurred words she was sinking back into the bed, eyes slipping shut because out of every single quirk that John had, his hushed tone lagged from sleep was practically her weakness. Hearing him deviate from the original hardness that his person naturally brought to the table.

“Sleep well John?”

He laughed. Pulling back but not loosening the hold he had on her. “Guess so.” There was the tip of one side of his mouth. Lazy smile making heat curl low in her stomach as he peered over at her with wild hair and a gleam of apprehension in his eyes.

“I’ve got things to do today.” Mumbled under her breath after a pregnant pause that left her feeling uneasy.

“Do you now?” His cockiness was gone, zapped out of him and replaced by an unusual demure state she wasn’t sure what to do with.

“I do. And you know this.” There was a whine from him when she finished her sentence. The sound had her pulling him in for some form of a hug with limbs that were tangled below the blankets. His ankles were locked over hers, hip bone jutting out into the soft curve of her hip. “I love you.”

“Then stay.”

He pushed her into a corner and pressed a gun into the tender skin under her chin with just those two words.

“Don’t tell me you can’t. I know you can manage. You’re just making excuses.”

Rook sighed, pressing the side of her face into a pillow and feeling John sink back with her. Following her movements like she had already agreed. “Pray tell, who’s gonna stop me if I try to get up?”

“I like to believe I’m stronger than you dear.” As if to prove his point he wrapped his arms around her. Head now shoved in her rib cage with how she had been trying to subtly wiggle up on the bed into something close to a sitting position. “You’re not going. Not while I’m lucid enough to say anything about it.” She jumped when he pressed a kiss onto her stomach, shoving her shirt out of the way like he had the authority.

“You’re already falling back to sleep on top of me John.” She scoffed when he snarled out something incoherent. Lids slipping closed then open. “I’ll be gone in an hour.”

“Please don’t.” His words were almost lost in her skin with how close he was. But it was loud enough in the silence of the morning for her to catch it and feel the start of guilt lap at her.

She shut her eyes tight. Fists curling into the skin of his back, brushing over scars from so long ago and one that was too recent for her liking. “You owe me one.” Rook wormed her way back down on the bed. Cooing at him to calm his frazzled nerves when her movement had him tightening around her like a viper.

“Deal.”


	13. Jacob/Rook First Time For Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Smut, Rook’s first time being on top

“You just gotta be different huh?” There was more malice in his words than he really meant. His eyes told the true story, the love that was still there from the first time he saw her. It was caring, more than it had any right to be. 

Jacob was soft when he wanted. But sex, not the time for it. It’s not that he didn’t have the patience—well, it might be, not like he thought so—he just wanted to make bruises. Marks in her skin that everyone would see clearly. A sign that she was so obviously his. 

They’d be made with her on hands and knees, Jacob bearing down on her. Nibbling on her neck with little regard for drawing blood or not.

The point was, Jacob liked control. So Jacob stayed on top. Whether he shoved her down on her stomach or flipped her on her back just because he knew how she’d cling to him, he didn’t take kindly to her trying to flip the roles.

God knows she’s tried. Halfway during sex when they were in the heat of the moment. Yeah, news flash: he was strong. He’d whisper dirty things in her ears of keeping her in her place. 

Asking to be on top wasn’t something normal couples had to deal with she bet. 

It was something she sprung on him moments before he tossed her on his crappy bed. She was already bare, and his cock was half hard in his jeans. Though at her onslaught of questions she could feel him soften. Going limp as anger took center stage. 

“Is it that important to you?”

“Mhm.” Rook hummed around a kiss. Holding his cheeks in her hands as she stood on tiptoes. “Please.”

“God.” He groaned. Face burying in the crook of her neck and biting roughly. Wrapping a forearm around her waist to pull them tight together. “You’re the only one who could control me like this y’know?”

“Aren’t I so lucky?” She broke away from him. Squealing when his heavy hand slapped at her ass when she walked by. 

Rook coaxed him down on the bed. Tugging his clothes off the rest of the way when he laid still like a child. “Don’t look so mad.” She climbed on top of him, sitting on his thighs and running blunt fingernails over the fuzz on his stomach. Trailing it up to catch in his chest hair. Sporadically placed from burnt nerve ends. 

She grabbed at his cock with careful fingers, seeing his stomach muscles pull tense with each gentle tug she gave. There wasn’t exactly fear in his eyes when she lowered herself down on him. More like apprehension. It was new, territory he hadn’t though was ever going to come up. Control was important to him, and here he was, handing over the reigns so willingly. 

“I think I like you better like this.” She teased. Gasping when not even a second later he slapped at her ass as she raised up on her knees. 

“Careful there pup.” Though his words lacked a bite. He was loosening up already. Easing back into the mattress and groaning low in his throat when she sank down on his cock. “Back a dog in a corner…” He let his words taper off in a moan when she bounced effortlessly on him. 

“You gonna bite me Jacob?” 

“Depends.” He managed a shrug, looking too relaxed all of a sudden with her on top of him. Moving like she belonged there all along. 

“On?”

 

“If you’d like it.” That made her snort. Had her leaning in close to him until he got the message and looped a strong scarred arm across her waist. Drawing her near so their chests were flush against each other. 

That’s about when Jacob gained back his control. With his hands buried in her hair he moved his hips up. Thrusted them ruthlessly into her cunt. Creating awful noises she was sure his men just outside his office door could hear if they were close enough.

She was panting into the side of his neck. Hissing through her teeth and murmuring pleas. Though for what she wasn’t quite sure. Jacob seemed to have some kind of idea even if she didn’t. He went a little bit harder. A little bit faster and twisted her body in a way that had her crying out his name like a prayer.

Jacob was whispering in her ear, snagging her hair tighter around his fingers and tipped her head just right so each breathy word got caught in her head. It was lost in a rush of adrenaline but she could hear him telling her how good she was for him. How she took his cock like she was made for it, made for being right on top with him rammed inside. That her pussy was so, so fucking sweet for him, that she made such pretty noises for him.

He grunted once, the tensing of his muscles one of the only other signs that he had finished. Along with the warmth trickling inside her hole. He held onto her tighter, jamming inside as if trying to keep his cum inside her, afraid that any drop would be wasted.

“You ever wanna try being on top again pup,” her jerked his hips roughly into her, smiling when she let out a pitiful sob. “Remember this yeah? I’m still gonna be the one taking the lead.” He laughed softly, kissing her temple. “Know your place soldier.”


	14. PolySeed/Rook Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: After the bombs drop and the world finally has come to an end there's still one unresolved problem...Who gets the deputy?

Through her whole ordeal in Hope County she always got the impression that she was more of a pawn to the Seeds than a worthy opponent. She was a bargaining chip, something to be held up high on a golden pedestal bathed in light if acquired.

Like she said, that was just an impression. A faint idea as to what the Seeds were thinking as she ran around from place to place, crossing over region borders destroying whatever got in her way like she was born to.

Now though, oh man, now there was no question about it. With the three men squabbling, John doing most of the whining, she was sure they never had a serious talk about where her role was beside them. That this was a topic discussed more in passing as one would approach a sore subject. Then again that might’ve been because no one knew when the collapse was coming—not that the people of Eden’s Gate doubted it—or if she was going to be alive when the time came at all, or that they’d get lucky enough to have her stuck in the same tiny sardine can of a bunker with them. That was just her luck wasn’t it? The decision was up in the air, being tossed around about who the fuck actually got to have her. Or at least who got her first because—surprise surprise! John wouldn’t take no for an answer. He was taking his turn one way or another, there was no outright denial when it came to him.

He sat on a deflated mattress stained with something curiously close to blood, red in the face from anger. Other than that his body language was almost calm. Compared to Jacob and Joseph...she might say he was off his game. Not his usual self that she expected, full of bravado and a dramatic air that he had grown known for. Not jesting back with the eldest as brothers should and instead answering with snide remarks that made her head spin.

An hour. They had been arguing for an hour. If God had any mercy he would strike her dead to escape their bickering.

“Does it matter that much John?” Coming from Joseph, so ready to give up something for his brothers. He could wait for her, he could be patient. He’s proved that already in having so much faith in the collapse. Following out a divine plan that was whispered in his ear back home in Georgia. “What difference does it make if you’re first or last? So long as your day comes to treat Rook the way He intended.”

“It matters,” was the curt reply he got in return before John was spinning back on Jacob. Eyebrow cocked as he missed the last words that fell from the soldier’s lips. “Excuse me?”

“I said,” Jacob leaned back against the wall, arms over his chest, the epitome of not giving a single fuck, “I’ve got a good solution, a fair one at that.”

“I’m listening.” And he was. Leaning forward from his position on the bed. Eyes flicking between Jacob and Rook like he could already taste her. Like he could already envision himself collecting what he so deserved.

“Tallest gets first dibs, obviously--” added with a scoff for comedic effect. Rook winced,  _ Maybe not the time Jacob. _

“Joseph!” But Joseph wasn’t intervening for once in what seemed like what would’ve been a common occurrence if not for the subject. He was sitting Indian style beside Rook. Legs neatly crossed as he leaned his head on an open palm. Taking the joke—what Rook hoped was a joke—better than John was.

Joseph puffed out a breath of air before closing his eyes. “He was kidding.”

“Was I?” Jacob tipped his head to the side in mock consideration before crossing the cement floor with ease and confidence. For good reason too, he was larger than John, than all of them actually. If anyone wanted to stop him there’d be a high chance it wouldn't affect Jacob’s path. Which happened to be right for Rook. “How ‘bout we let the rookie decide.” She winced at his words, refused to meet his gaze. Ringing through her head like wind chimes; rookie, not Rook. A title she wasn’t so sure she merited anymore.

“Hm, pup? Wanna add to this conversation or were you planning on being a passive observer.”

Surprisingly no one jumped to her aid. John’s eyes were wide with rapt attention, looking like he was about to jump off the side of the bed to hear her words. Joseph wasn’t doing shit, pulling her tight to his side, rubbing a coaxing hand up and down her shoulder as if that would ease the words right out of her.

She was thrown out in the limelight so suddenly. Pushed into the wolves gaping maws. And now they expected her to choose? Yeah, like she had a choice in the matter.

“Flip a coin for all I care.” Rook huffed. Shoulders sagging, flinching a second later, tensing right back up when John moved in a flurry of blue and black to flank her unoccupied side.

“You don’t get to say that. You can’t just roll your eyes and act like this isn’t an important decision.” She bit her tongue. Holding back the tart replies that, yes, despite whatever fallacies he had in his mind, she could indeed act like this wasn’t important. Because either way she was drawing the short stick.

“It’s so easy, all you need to do--”

“If you tell me to ‘say yes’ I will kick you.” Already she was leaning more into Joseph, falling back on her ass so she could lift a foot part way off the ground. Heel resting in the soft skin of his stomach and shoving just enough to tip him back to land on his rear.

“Stop acting like a child!” John moved quick. Quick enough to yank her to her feet and manage to avoid Joseph who gave a chastising yell of his name along with grasping hands that reached for her. John shook her like a ragdoll. Held tight to her shoulders and got too close to her face for comfort.

“By the end of the night you will decide. There is no more waiting, the collapse is upon us and I won’t have you ruining all we built by refusing to cooperate.” He shoved her back. Right into the arms of Joseph who didn’t hesitate to cradle her to his chest as he stroked down her spine, making soft shushing noise like she was a startled animal and not just another victim of John’s wrath.

Jacob watched his brother storm out of their confined space to an adjacent room--just as small. There was a smile tilting his lips up. Still so amused despite the outburst he witnessed. “So who gets her Johnny?” Called after him right when John slammed a door with a snarl.

His muffled voice reached them a few seconds later. “Don’t care! So long as that vile woman stays away from me until she learns to behave!”

 


	15. John/Rook Not So Holy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: John decides to make use of his brother's knack for conditioning people

John has seen first hand what Jacob was capable of doing. That his brother could take the strongest of people and make them heel. Tame their wild side and target their pent up wrath to a good cause. The cause their family has been driving towards for the better half of their lives. It was a righteous fight, but one that was cruel nonetheless. John had no problem voicing those opinions to the ones brought to him tied up like presents ready all for him. He dramatized things, sure, It worked like a charm though. Had those sinners ready to confess, spilling their secrets so long as they were kept away from the big bad wolf up north.

He has heard so many stories of what Jacob got up to, if he didn’t want to there’d be no reason to see the effects up close. He had never had a reason to with the way word spread so fast. Even if he knew a man or woman in his chair had their minds fried by Jacob, hacked into and so eager to become a weapon at just the sound of a song, he never exploited that. 

It seemed immoral, to pull confession from people like that. When they weren’t in their right frame of mind. The bliss was meant to make people see, to show them the truth. Jacob’s songs...he disapproved almost as much as Joseph did.

Now though, well John might have to give Jacob a call. Send him a damn gift basket for the treat he unknowingly gave John.

“Deputy,” He smiled, all sharp teeth and rough angles as he took such careful steps towards her. “So glad you could make it.”

“Didn’t have much of a choice.” She kicked a stray pistol out of her way, not bothering to watch where it flew between the pews. “You kinda tied my hands. Threatened my friends. These people,” Rook gestured vaguely behind her, at the closed church doors where Falls End laid in wait. “They haven’t done a damn thing to you. At least nothing that you didn’t start.”

“Oh.” John pursed his lips, hands falling to rest on his hips, pushing back his coat in the process. An action that made Rook’s eyes drop to scan for weapons. Grunting in disbelief when her search came up empty because John Seed didn’t strike her as an unprepared man. “My apologies. But we both know that this could’ve been avoided. That the conflict between Eden’s Gate and Falls End wasn’t that bad until you got here and gave them false hope. Don’t you remember those radio calls? How I told you to be very careful of your next actions because they will be delivered ten fold onto your friends.”

“You want me to lie over and just...stop?”

“I want you to confess! To show me you are worthy of atonement!” He stood his ground, hands flying wildly in gestures to accentuate his point. He was a second away from stomping his foot in a show of anger. “It’s simple.”

Rook blinked owlishly back at him. Less than two feet away and all his crazy flying in the air to make her more hesitant than she usually was. More intimidating when others lives were riding on the line, right outside these walls.

“I’m done playing cat and mouse with you. My brother and sister have their ways, ways that I’ve never much liked dear, you’ve encountered them, no?”

She nodded once, curtly. Not stepping away fast enough to escape John’s grasp on both her upper arms. He pulled her in tight. Crashed her into his chest and spun them around to fall back on a set of pews in the front. She was half sitting in his lap, weight crushed down on his knee as he struggled to keep her still.

“Behave for once in you life!” Arms tangled around her waist, fingers grasping for what he had carried in his pocket for the last couple of days since hearing the deputy was back in his part of town. Running from the wrath of Jacob. “You won’t listen to my methods, to my voice of abject reason. This is on you deputy, remember that.” He hissed the words in her ear. Made his voice echo in the church only to be replaced with the sound of that music box that she had come to dread. The first few notes already had her shaking. Ten seconds in and she was seeing red, eyes blurring at the edges. Twenty seconds and...and...slowed down. A broken melodic tune. Close to what Jacob’s exposed her to. But different in a way she couldn’t name.

“That’s it, deep breaths.”

Nothing at all like the experience she had with Jacob. No feelings of death or want to murder. Just a peaceful serenity that had her bones turning to jelly as she relaxed back into John.

“On the floor dep, right there. I like you like this, on your knees for me.” It was more empowering than he could’ve imagined. And suddenly he understood his brothers need for control. It was going straight to John’s head, flushing down lower, pooling blood in his cock. He was already hard. Jeans obviously tenting at the front. “I can guide you dep. I can show you the light, so to speak.” He laughed at his own words. Smiling wide as if he formed the most ingenious plan and wasn’t simply taking advantage of his brother’s conditioning.

And guide her he did. With a lack of shame he interlaced his fingers behind her head, widened his legs so she could fit between, and brought her close to his cock until it smeared a path of cum along her cheek when his hips jerked in an effort to get comfortable. The sight had him groaning already. With her dazed expression, so near to such an intimate part of him…she was sin incarnate herself. 

“You’ve denied me for too long deputy.” He bit down on his words when her parted lips--forced by his thumb--opened up for his length. The head of his cock slipped in with ease. Creating a hum through his throat as he basked in the warmth she offered. His head tipped back as he pushed her down further. “Can’t run anymore huh?” John quipped, reveling for the moment on how silent she was with him slowly shoving down her throat with gentle rolls of his hips. 

He kept himself quiet. Bit his lip whenever her muscles spasmed around him in protest and he felt the need to moan. This was wrong, in the holy place of God, not even on his own land. John wasn’t about to stop now, not when he finally had her in his grasp, when she was showing her sin to him. A sin he was glad to know they shared. 

His thighs tensed around her head, body buckling forward on its own accord. He was pulling her closer. Practically choking her and disregarding how she was squirming in need of air. There were soft sounds dropping from his lips. Ones of praise that reached somewhere deep inside Rook, unlocking that part of her brain that lit up just as Jacob had programmed it to.

John bucked his hips up lightly. Using her as little more than a living toy. “You might have your uses Dep, maybe you’re not such a hinderance.” Spoken under his breath as he ghosted a kiss to the crown of her head. 

Practice made John silent when he came. Years of hiding that sin from those who believed him to be holy and a brother afraid he’d fall back in his ways of a party animal had John falling back into step when he closed up his throat and only whimpered when Rook sucked his dry. Sputtering when he didn’t immediately let her go to take in a breath. 

“Yeah,” John slumped down in the pew, legs interlocking the deputy in place when she tried to backpedal. “You definitely are beneficial to this project.” He laughed, a sound that made him wince when it echoed around them. “Guess Joseph was right.”


	16. PolySeed/Rook Overwhelmed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: 
> 
> “Joseph,” He corrected, this time getting near. Blissfully unaware of the slick coating her thighs because her heat must’ve been too close for her to be so near all the people apart of Joseph’s flock. She took his hand in a shake and excused herself with words coated with something she prayed he didn't see as hostile and dripping with a want she couldn't control. Laughing and shaking her head a little too sporadically when he offered to see her out. A rushed tongue and rambling sentences before she disappeared out the doors.
> 
> That scent, Joseph’s scent, lingered on her. Made itself at home right inside her nose all the way back to the station. It was homey. Like worn books and leather. A tinge of something sweet that made her want to dominate. Called upon her to fulfill the purpose of a proper alpha.

Rook wasn’t ignorant, no, she would never admit to that, she’d like to call it denial. Or maybe disbelief, just pure and utter disbelief that through her time in Hope County as a junior deputy working too many hours and taking all the late night shifts no one else wanted, that she’d stumble across a group of omegas she couldn't tame. Who followed after her like a pack of dogs waiting for a treat. Said pack, because they truly were working together to gain her favor, who were courting her in a way she hadn’t thought any old omega would be able to. She just couldn’t wrap her head around it all. 

Hearing about the congregation down the road, run by someone by the name of Joseph Seed, it was starting to get old how that name was beginning to crop up everywhere. She rolled her eyes everytime she got a call to go down there. They were harmless enough. Maybe stuck in the olden days and giving off some vibes that were a little too nice, too normal with picturesque ideals. And niceness was suspicious nowadays. That’s the first thing she said when her and her shiny police cruiser was escorted through large gates that swung open silently and she stood before Joseph. All smiles and apologies and trying to keep her cheeks in check before they glowed red from embarrassment.

Because the last thing she needed was to get on a preacher’s bad side. That wouldn’t paint the police department in a good light. Besides, it was a little more selfish than that. Said preacher being a quaint omega--really charming wasn’t the word, quaint worked just fine. He was demure, calm, radiating this aura that had her seeing stars when she was able to catch his scent. It wasn’t hidden, not in the slightest. Almost like he was proud of such a powerful aroma that had a presence of its own. No wonder he was leading the masses.

Rook hid the snarl that rose up in her throat with practiced ease. Coughing around the growl as her throat constricted in protest.  _ Control Rook, don’t tackle the man.  _ She was already on thin ice, alphas in positions of power, with a gun on their belt no less, some people were already weary of that. No reason to make their fears come true. Not when his flock had been more than welcoming.

She did sway slightly, closed her eyes on the inhale as she walked forward. When he saw her swoon at the onslaught of smell he at least had the decency to look sorry. Kind enough to not come closer in the enclosed space of his church. “We don’t use suppressors here, we like to keep things natural. No drugs.” Such a subtle voice, soft and lilting. Yeah, he fit the script just as she imagined. The kind of omegas that were written in biology textbooks, it could’ve been laughable if her inner alpha wasn’t straining on her leash.

“Yeah. Mhm.” Past the point of being professional, not when she knew he was probably able to smell the faint highlights of her scent barely seeping through the drugs she was definitely using. His flock might feel safe in their walled off island, but she didn’t need to let every drunken idiot she arrested at the bar know how unavailable she was. “I get it. Not a crime though, that’s certain. This whole thing was a misunderstanding, Sir.” Rook cringed, rolling her shoulders back uncomfortably. Would Father have been the proper title for a preacher?

“Joseph,” He corrected, this time getting near. Blissfully unaware of the slick coating her thighs because her heat must’ve been too close for her to be so near all the people apart of Joseph’s flock. She took his hand in a shake and excused herself with words coated with something she prayed he didn't see as hostile and dripping with a want she couldn't control. Laughing and shaking her head a little too sporadically when he offered to see her out. A rushed tongue and rambling sentences before she disappeared out the doors.

That scent,  _ Joseph’s scent,  _ lingered on her. Made itself at home right inside her nose all the way back to the station. It was homey. Like worn books and leather. A tinge of something sweet that made her want to dominate. Called upon her to fulfill the purpose of a proper alpha.

Weeks went by and talked had died down just enough about Joseph and his group of fanatics for Rook to keep her head on straight and not go mad. It was refreshing to say the truth. Quiet too. Rook liked quiet. Not that it ever lasted long, being on your toes was a part of the job. Which is how Rook found herself juggling a bagel in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee as she managed the steering wheel on the way to some address she didn’t even know people lived at.

When she got there...God she didn’t even have to guess that these people were apart of Joseph’s congregation. Eden’s Gate with their need to not use any type of suppressants, it was fucking torture. The smell alone made staying in the car a tempting offer. She didn't think she would have if it didn't look like someone was going to end up with a black eye or bloody nose. All men and all save for one looking ready to kill despite the lack of any feasible weapons. Always quick to assess a situation that looked too much like a domestic dispute.

Rook was swift to intervene. Reaching out at the nearest man who was standing off to the side with a look of fear on his face, but his body language, his eyes, even his scent: He was pissed. Wrangling in his anger and playing up the weak omega card real well when the other participants were alphas.

_ Smart boy.  _

The growl that came from her throat drew his attention when her hands on his shoulders failed to do so. And for an instant that fear was gone, replaced by curiosity and a swell of his scent that read nothing but pure, unadulterated interest. Not want, simple curiosity. God she shouldn't have to remind herself that.

She was like a fucking dog. Body aching just by being near someone who smelled so good. Someone who she could envision whining so pretty for her given the right incentive. In fact, he was doing a damn good job. Baring his throat for her subtly when he jumped right into an explanation before she had time to ask any questions. It seemed like he’s been through this before, did this type of song and dance enough times that he looked at ease when speaking to her. Throwing in the right words to make him and his friend seem like the victims.

His hands were on her, leaning into the touch she had on his shoulders. He was gripping onto her arms, squeezing tight and putting the right amount of whine in his voice that she almost felt sorry for him. Like he hadn’t been seconds away from pouncing on a couple of men who were angry about….she was barely listening to him. So honed in on the scent he was pushing her way--which was definitely done on purpose--that she had only caught some snippets of the conversation. Some land dispute, payment terms not met on time.

Something way out of her pay grade. Her problem nonetheless as Hope County’s finest.  

“Did anyone get hurt?”

His eyes bulged, “Officer I was scared. I thought they were gonna--”

“He’s a lying sack of shit!” She ignored that. Forcing herself not to look at the two men behind her being held off by whoever this stranger had brought with him to defend his case. The words had the intended effect though. The man in front of her whimpered. Pushing into her side way more than what was considered respectable. “I can take both of you down to the precinct, get a statement, work all this out in a more civil way.”

And that’s where she was left. With a man she could now identify as John Seed from Eden’s Gate, shaking apart in a old worn seat she pushed his way. Shoving his sweet fragrance her way like they were mates and that could break her. Everytime his head tipped back too far she would have to lean back in her seat, ignore the way her stomach clenched and how she wanted to pin him down and--

“Maybe we could call my brother, deputy Rook? He’s so much better at dealing with these things. Would that be okay?”

It would. It’d be so okay if she had someone in front of her not about to break down. She made the call as John listed off numbers in a soft voice shared between them. A hand on her shoulder because he couldn’t be normal and sit across from her. He had to shift his chair to her side and lean in closer.

Twenty minutes later and she regretted calling his brother. Hadn’t gotten Joseph’s last name and didn’t think the two omegas were in any way related. She had to be the one going over paperwork with the two people quickly becoming the most hated in the entire county standing in front of her. One far more needier than the other. But both sweet, endearing, placed in their natural roles that checked every single box.

It became natural for her to take the calls that related to Eden’s Gate. Whenever a complaint was made about ‘those crazy preaching types,’ Whitehorse sent her off with a nod of good luck. She couldn't say she minded too much, most of the problems she had to deal with consisted of calming down crowds that didn’t much care for the sudden rush of people flooding into Hope County every day, popping out of the woodwork so often that Rook couldn't remember half the people enclosed in the space the Seeds had bought.

The first time she was able to dodge seeing either Seed brother. The second she was just as lucky. Had stayed a while longer until her conscience was eased and she could shake the hands of grateful congregants. She left quick after that when she recognized John’s booming voice from across the yard. Around the same time she said good night to a kind old man she was surprised to learn had trekked as far as Georgia as he claimed.

She’d keep her thought to herself that Joseph very well may be insane for putting so many through that, including his own blood.

The third time, bordering on second week of dealing with paranoid bullshit about Eden’s Gate, she didn’t have to do much. The strangely aggressive man already at the gate was clear indication of that, making her job easy. The guy could handle his own. It made her nerves light with pleasure she couldn't explain. Color her impressed.

His introduction was short. Curt. Given in an offhand manner when their eyes locked with her still safely tucked away in her squad car. He appeared more annoyed than anything. Body tensing again, so ready to snap at her upon seeing her green Hope County issued uniform.

“Back home, where Joseph began preaching, we had a lot of cops on our case.” He--Jacob--gave in way of explanation. Staying firmly rooted in his spot right outside the gates (And maybe she was imagining it but they looked taller, more menacing), not at all making any moves to lead her inside. “Guess it’s a nice change to see we’ve got the sheriff's department on our side deputy…” He leaned down, as tall as he was, practically kneeling to grab at her name plate. “Rook.” And with him that close that’s when she caught it. Got a subtle hint of his scent that let her know that this one, oh, this one was different.

An omega fuming with a type of rage she hasn’t seen in such a timid breed in a long time. She bet he had his moments. Times where he could mewl just as pretty as any other omega. But tonight, when he needed to protect his people, yeah he could throw them around. But she’d love to be the woman to make this man heel. To have him submit to her sharp growls and guiding hands.

Rook sucked in deep when he leaned away, nose scrunching up as he turned away from her. He probably smelt her, took in the way her scent fumed out just a little bit. Suppressors not doing much so close to her heat. Only serving to make her look like a fool. Because no doubt he could smell the way her scent had a slight twinge of something different. Drugs so clear in her system that her body was trying to flush clean.

“If I see you around again deputy,” He drew her attention easy as pie, so simple with his baritone rusty voice, scratching on each syllable. “Hope it’s cause you’re fighting with us. Not against us.” That sounded too close of a threat for her to let go. So she just laughed. Jutted her hip out with a hand dropping to her waist, drawing attention to her gun. Because he seemed like the type of man who’d be into that sorta thing.

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem. You’ve got nothing to worry about Jacob…”

“Seed.” He tugged at his jacket. Making her eyes flick down to his breast pocket where his name was helpfully embroidered.  _ J. Seed.  _ If she wasnt so enraptured with his face and the image of such a big man under her...she might’ve known. She might’ve avoided this mess and never stepped out of her cruiser because nope, she wasn’t flirting. Was not suddenly thinking about all three brothers because she was a greedy insatiable alpha not at all prepared for her heat and dreading the thought of spending it all alone.

She groaned under her breath, an angry snarl she wasn’t sure Jacob heard or not because he was already walking away and she was speeding over to her car. Practically throwing herself behind the wheel and speeding off as if she was the one who committed a crime.

She wasn’t doing this. Not a chance in hell was she going near that place again. Rook didn’t care if she lost her job. She was staying far away from the Seeds. Or they’d be the death of her.


	17. Joseph/Rook Carved Markings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: The deputy seems a little too interested on the scars that Joseph has acquired

The bliss had never been pleasant. Quite the opposite actually. It had her seeing stars hours after exposure. Bile rose in her throat whenever she got close, like that first encounter with the stuff had conditioned her body to scream danger.

All those things combined with her prior experience with the Seeds, which have all been equally unpleasant thus far, would make one think she would learn her lesson or develop some shreds of self-preservation in the middle of a war. And yet…

“Fuck.” Rook held her hands out in front of her. Fingers splayed and wiggling as everything floated in and out of focus. She imagined this was similar to a bad acid trip. Difference being that too much of this particular drug would leave her a crazy fueled killed that was more brainless than Jacob’s trained civilians turned soldiers. 

It was stupid really, she could admit that to herself. Pride didn’t have room in her head with all the shit she was dealing with. Anyone could’ve looked at the tankers barreling down the road with a hazy green fog coming out of them and would’ve caught on pretty quick.

“Just had to be a hero huh?” The bliss made her loopy. Had her mumbling under her breath to no one in an attempt to keep the visions the bliss formed from invading her space. Because the last thing she wanted was for Faith to show up like she was known for doing. The damn woman was more like a traveling buddy with how often she showed up when Rook was hiking from one outpost to the next. She just didn’t have the energy to rant with someone who was only a figment of her imagination why Eden’s Gate was wrong and that she was fighting the good fight.

In fact...Rook took a survey of the land around her. The road she was standing to the side of was little more than a field now. No one around for miles except for too large deer that spewed out bliss from their sides. Yeah, she wasn’t doing this. She could make that choice right? This was her own damn mind and she refused to participate. 

Unceremoniously she fell back on her ass. Hitting something soft that made her wonder how the hell the bliss worked because she was sure she had been on asphalt. She tugged at the grass strands, plucking up weeds and tiny yellow flowers that she twirled between her fingers. So much more pleasant than being berated by one of the Seeds. 

“Deputy Rook?”

“Oh for fuck's sake, you can’t give me one minute can you?” Out of the corner of her eye she clearly saw Joseph, chest still bare because of course it was, and glasses covering too blue eyes from the harsh glare of the sun.

Rook turned in his direction when he dared to step closer. As if she gave him permission. “Nah huh.” She shook her head sporadically, jamming a finger in his direction that stopped him in his tracks and left him looking more amused than anything. “You leave all your crazy over there and I’ll stay here.”

“That’s how you think of me? You believe I’m crazy?”

She stood on unsteady feet, missing the way he continued forward, hands out to grab her in case she fell. “I’m sure you’ve been called worst.”

He nodded once, following her line of sight as she took in his chest, littered in scars from childhood well into his time at Eden’s Gate. “The way you mark yourself, say it’s for atonement. Normal people don’t do that shit.”

“Well,” He laughed softly head tipping a bit to the side reminiscent of Boomer, “maybe ‘normal’ is what we are trying to deviate from. Isn’t being ‘normal’ what dug America into such a deep hole where all you can find is corruption and anger?” 

Rook shrugged. Not in the right frame of mind to debate politics. She stumbled closer until she could smell him. No cologne like John had smelt of when he got in her face wielding a tattoo gun, not the natural earthy smell Jacob carted around with him that reminded her of a lumberjack. It wasn’t unpleasant, just foreign and hard to place. It left her leaning into the hand he used to steady her that rested on her cheek.

“They look painful.” Stupid. Such a foolish thing to say or even bring up because the scars she was referencing looked old and dull. A mark from childhood. A light pink stretch of tight skin that she would’ve missed if she hadn’t been looking for it. He took it in stride though. Didn’t grimace of wince. Seemingly accustomed to the lack of filter people had when the bliss was coursing through their veins. It was meant to make people see wasn’t it? It made the truth spill from her lips. So maybe it wasn’t so bad if she just…

Her hand reached out carefully as she neared him. Slotting perfectly against his side and basked in the warmth he exuded when an arm wrapped over her shoulders. She pressed the flat of her palm on his ribs. Feeling the ridges of bones and the contrast the scars gave. “You’re too skinny.”

That seemed to surprise him. It caught him off guard, though he’s seen her love spread towards those sinners she deemed her friends, he just never assumed that sympathy would extend to him as well. 

“And this,” she tapped at a low scar marking him for lust near his hip bone. “Any lower and you’d have scratched your cock.” She ignored how his eyes grew wide at her crudeness. “That was dumb.” She outlined the words with her nail. Not lucid enough to be aware of how goosebumps had begun to crop up on his skin.

“Child, we should remove you from the bliss.” He tried to ignore how her butterfly-light touch roaming over scars and tattoos made him feel more secure then he had in a while. It was a feeling he never had the chance to indulge in lately. “It makes you--”

“Really fucked up. Yeah.” She whispered it with a tinge of regret staining her voice. Too afraid to catch Joseph’s ever perceptive eyes. Instead opting to stare at the layout of his body and how his muscles tensed whenever she roamed over a sensitive patch of skin. “It makes me hate you.” Though her touch said otherwise.

Joseph’s throat felt tight when his mind finally kicked back into gear and he forced his feet to move. Dragging Rook along with him because despite the trance he put her in he was a man of his word and truly did want to get her away from the fumes making a thick fog in the air.

“Do they hurt?” She was leaning heavily on him, eyes dipping in and out of focus as she walked alongside him in a field of flowers and a lake to their right. She tapped at words etched on his forearm, clinging his limb to her chest like it belonged to her. It was something during his time at Eden’s gate, praising the Lord because this was Joseph they were talking about.

Joseph didn’t answer, he only sighed something light and stopped in his tracks. He took a moment to give a quick outlook of the area, skipping over the white pickup that held a few of his own that were meant to be driving further North. If his brother wasn’t expecting him he might be tempted to stay with Rook in her hallucinations and want to explore his body. 

“Only a test.” He turned to her, cupping the nape of her neck to draw their heads near. “You are a temptation child, laid in my path for me to overcome.” Joseph drew in a tight breath that sputtered out with a whistle through clenched teeth when he felt her arms tug him near. Wrapping around his slim waist and resting her palms above his jeans. “Thank you.” She was too out of it to take in his words really. To comprehend what he was speaking about or even referencing to show gratitude, but she hummed in response. 

Already the bliss was leaving her system, eyes losing their milky haze since he drew her far from the bliss polluting the street that Joseph supposed would be another headache for him to deal with. That show of her wrath, destroying his thing, whether intentional or not, on a normal day it would dissuade him. Though the experience she imparted him with, it almost felt religious. He had a flock who worshipped him like a God, he didn’t need Rook to show devotion, though he wanted it. It was a sign, an extension of Faith from above telling him there was more to this woman who had been tearing down the project. There was kindness and love harbored somewhere deep in her soul. 

He’d just have to try harder to bring it out of her.


	18. Joseph/Rook Savior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Joseph comes to the realization that Rook is his final reward

He wasn’t emotionally sound. And really she didn’t expect him to be. No normal person would even be able to fathom the end of the world, even if they were staring down fire and felled trees. It was earth-shattering. Of course that’s not accounting for the fact that his family was slaughtered. He had to deal with the knowledge that he was right, that all those years spent building Eden’s Gate wasn’t some crazy fantasy, but all that hard work was really for nothing. Because the people he had been building his future with was gone.

And all he had to comfort him was her. Believe it or not she wasn’t too keen on the idea. But he was starting to scare her. Pacing back and forth, wearing a rut into the floor with a fucking pistol in his hand and a white bound with a golden symbol in the other. She wasn’t about to question where he got either of those items. Not when he had dove so far into his mind that she was sure he wasn’t in touch with reality anymore. 

Rook stood still, shoulders drawn up around her neck. Trembling each time his voice rose higher than normal. 

He paused in his movements, turned towards the wall and took glances between the book in his right and the knife in his left. “I don’t know anymore Lord. I’m lost, scared. Have you left me?” A sob caught in his throat. “Is this punishment for letting a snake invade my garden, for not protecting my brothers and sister?” Whispering now, which was almost worse in a way. “What must I do to have you speak to me again? Just say the words and I’ll act. I need you to guide me.” 

His tossed the book behind him. And Rook had enough sense to at least lean out to grab it before it knocked over the radio across the room. She clutched it to her chest, bowed her head and inhaled the scent of worn leather and fire that clung to it as a distraction. 

Joseph’s strangled whine caught her attention. Made her head snap upwards and pulled her brows down in confusion. He was slicing into his skin. Stretching out his forearm to show skin that held haphazardly crafted text. He was slashing through scripture he had carved in his skin once upon a time. Now, in an action akin to John, he was cutting a thick line right through the middle of those words. With seemingly little care for his health or even the pain he must’ve been feeling.

“Joseph!” She let the book drop, rushed to grab him around the shoulders and spin him around. That didn’t stop him. But he did slow down, and he smiled. Fucking smiled at her like this was some joke she wasn’t in on. Rook squeezed at his wrist, shaking it roughly until the knife, now dripping with blood, clattered to the floor. Spinning somewhere under the couch that she’d have to grab later.

Rook clung to him. Drew him so near to her chest she swore she was smothering him. 

He was still mumbling. Now incoherently, scaring her with how broken he was when he was usually so composed. 

“The fuck is wrong with you?”

Joseph didn’t answer. Only sighed into her skin when his sentence came to an end. His knees buckled, dragging them both down in an act that was too purposeful on his account. The look in his eyes that she caught was clearing up. Recognizing who was cradling him, who was twisting his arm out in expectation with worry etched on her face.

She was a blessing at that moment. Someone to pull him back from the edge he was precariously hanging off of by a single thread. He was so close to fully losing it, to cross a point of no return.

“You’re an angel.” Mumbled into her chest as he inched closer to her. Hands hesitant to wrap around the waist of someone who was the downfall of the project. She brought about the collapse at the price of his family. And now she was shushing him with soothing words and a hand trailing up and down his spine. “Truly Rook,” He pulled back to stare at her. Eyes going wide in quick realization. “You are my angel. How could I still be blind?” He laughed, tossed something manic in the air that died down when she squeezed his bicep.

“My gift Lord. I see. I understand. You haven’t left me, never. You never would. You’ve given this to me.” Through hooded eyes he drank in her disheveled appearance. “Look at us, living out the end of the world in each other's arms. With me finally reaping the benefits of all those years of misfortune.” Joseph was rambling. Switching his focus to some spot on the wall behind Rook. “He never forgot about me, never meant for my entire life to be full of pain. All of that can be forgiven when I have the most divine gift all for the taking.” He smiled one last time before his eyes sharpened back on her. Flicking down to her parted lips before he launched forward like a dog let off his leash. He shoved her down, let her back collide with the cement floor and took her lips. Claimed her with a tongue invading her mouth. When he broke the kiss she noticed how out of place he looked. That his hair had come undone and that he appeared dirtier than before. 

“Mine for the taking,” he repeated it like a mantra. “For whatever I please to do with you.”


	19. Joseph/Rook Unholy in My Eyes

Hiding it had been stupid in hindsight. Joseph was sedulous, a man who knew things that he just shouldn’t. She kept her mouth so very fucking tight. Lips sealed around a secret when she was locked in a bunker with a man slated with the unanswered crime of snipping the bud of life from his baby girl before it even bloomed.

The way he looked at her when they were first plunged down here, forced it would seem by the hand of God himself in order to escape the hell that was brewing outside, It wasn’t right. There was something off in his gaze whenever he sat in front of her in the same worn red chair Dutch had all those months ago. He would feed her as though she was a child, bathe her with a rag he had found. Peel her clothes from her body and let his eyes gravitate to her stomach. She wasn’t showing, was still flat even though she had a life of her own growing inside her. But his eyes said he knew, his touch that fluttered over her middle was almost coaxing her to just say it. To tell him what he already appeared to know.

She woke up too many times with Joseph hovering. Sitting on the floor by her side, cradling her head to his bare chest and mumbling prayers under his breath. Praying for strength, for safety and guidance. It was nothing like the first sermon she interrupted when this whole mess was a simple arrest. It wasn’t _right_.

Joseph knew. Simple as that. He had to know because when she began to grow round with a kid of her own there was no shock. He only smiled. Tipped his head from across their rickety table they were dining at. “Is that so?” Too fucking sly. Conniving. “Well, doesn’t this cause for celebration.” He chuckled, reaching across the table with hands that coaxed their fingers to interlock. “Can you imagine having a child down here,” his eyes fluttered around the room before landing back on her. “It’ll be truly magical to start something new. To nurture it properly.” He stressed the word properly. Drew it out until she cringed inwardly. It had certain implications directed at a Seed born years ago that never lived to see the outside world or meet her uncles.

That thought tore her open. Ripped her apart at the seams worse than she believed it ever could. To know that this cult could’ve been stopped if that little girl grew, she could’ve been the catalyst. Something for the Seeds to gravitate towards. It would’ve brought empathy from all three, maybe it would’ve stopped the voices in Joseph’s head.

“Rook?”

She didn’t know she was crying until Joseph was standing by her side. Grabbing her around the shoulders and moving them towards their shared bed. Pulling her along when her mind was shutting down at the prospect at being stuck with such a mad man who lacked mercy for his own blood.

“Quiet child. Shhh.” He smoothed a hand down her back as he pushed them on the mattress. Repositioning Rook to curl on her side when her instinct was to lie on her stomach. “This is a gift. A cause for celebration as I’ve said.”

“You can’t believe that.”

At the silence that followed she swiveled her eyes upward to his face. His lips were in a tight line, either anger or annoyance, she couldn't tell. His eyes were restless. Bouncing around the bunker like he was searching for something. Fingers clenched into fists when he drew them in his lap. “Not entirely, no.” She was waiting for him to add on a ‘it just seemed like the right thing to say.’ But Joseph wasn’t cruel, he wouldn't joke about this situation.

He leaned forward. Forearms resting on his thighs with a bowed head. Hands clasped at the nape of his neck. “If I am really stuck down here with you, with a sinner who never reached atonement and still has a myriad of things to confess for, I suppose I assumed that there would be a reason to this fate. That at the very least I’d have the honor of creating the next generation to see the new world.” He turned his head slightly, catching her wide eyed expression, and he just laughed. Too calm for what he was saying. “We need children who don’t know of the corruption of how things used to be.”

“My kid won’t know.”

He nodded. Unsatisfied. “Yes. But it won’t be my blood, nor my flesh. It won’t have the blood of my dead brothers, they won’t have the chance of their DNA living on. The Seed family stops at me then? How can I accept that after everything I did? Our family legacy just surmounts to nothing, for I have no heirs to tell my story and build into what I worked for.”

Joseph’s eyes flickered to her stomach. Almost glaring at the bulge there. 

“You’re jealous.”

“I’m angry.” He whispered softly, a threat veiled behind the guise of a simple correction. Reaching out a hand to push up her shirt to reveal her taut skin stretching wide over the life inside her. His hand splayed across her abdomen, fingers putting pressure lightly there. “This one is pointless. They serve no purpose if they don’t have my blood running through their veins.”

Rook couldn’t get up fast enough. Not when Joseph was sitting right by her head and ready to grab her if she so much as twitched. She couldn’t fight him when he pinned her down. He wasn’t careful in the slightest when he flipped her effortlessly on her stomach and leaned down on top of her.

“This child isn’t worthy Rook, forget about it.” He placed more weight on her until her bones popped and creaked. “We can make life from my seed, a holier seed, no doubt, then whatever sinner you let do this to you.” He was fully on top of her, chest pressing into her back. Making it hard to breathe or even speak out against him. “We’ll get rid of this problem together. You have nothing to worry about child,” Whispered when he saw tears trek down her cheeks. “We’ll make something far more beautiful.”


	20. Joseph/Rook Breakdown

It was a confession of sorts she supposed. Anguished cries to the heavens that were only between her and God. The God she was cursing out, ranting and raving with stomps of her feet and a litany of words that would harm the ears of any passerby.

It was the literal definition of a mental breakdown. The whole nine yards was being played out. Tears streaming down her face, snot clogging her nose, making it almost impossible to breathe. Mud had dirtied her face, made her look like a lunatic that had taken one too many falls which resulted in a few screws being knocked loose.

Rook chucked her bag in a fit of a rage, tossing it over her shoulder to send it sprawling along the grassy field she wandered through that was thigh high and pissing her off more than it should. With the pitiful scream that followed she missed the imperceivable click of her radio as it connected with the ground.

“So fucking stupid. So goddamn dumb!” Her fist connected with a tree. Over and over. Again and again. Until there was more blood added to her body, flowing freely from battered knuckles that she didn’t have the supplies to fix.

Her body crumpled. She folded in on herself after kicking ruthlessly at her bag that laid at her feet. Once on the floor she kicked it again for good measure, anger searing through every logical thought in her head.

The radio crackled once. Probably broken. Sending signals it couldn’t connect with. And yet hundreds of miles away, spiraling far into the heart of the center island in Hope County that Rook never dared to venture on, her radio  _ was  _ connecting with something. Someone. It was pinging against towers and made Joseph jolt from where he sat. Head once bowed to take in overflowing letters he had yet to respond to and paperwork that had been deferred to him. He stayed seated, eyes sharpening in the dark room only lit by moonlight pouring in through an open window.

His radio, old with the plastic chipping off, stood out on his bed where he left it. The noise that came out of the receiver had him rise slowly, palms pressed flat on his desk, head tipped to the side as his eyes slid shut. Listening. Trying to tell if the sound was human or some malfunction. Because it was drawn out and almost like a whine. So quiet, so broken.

“Can’t do it. God I can’t. And everyone just expects--” That whine was there again. This time more choked off and strangled. That made Joseph move forward. Grabbing at the radio as he collapsed down on his bed with the receiver pressed to his ear. The words were muffled, far away, a voice speaking through layers of cotton that made it hard to hear.

He listened nonetheless, unsure of this being accidental, if this person was seeking out guidance or not.

“I killed people. Fucking slaughtered them. And I took  _ pride _ in it.” Joseph noted how disgusted this woman sounded, and was almost tempted to speak, to let her know that he could offer assistance, ease the pain she was feeling. “Wrath and pride and fucking envy. Guess I can add sloth to the list now.” She laughed, bitter and cruel. “Some deputy  _ I  _ am. Don’t deserve the title.”

Joseph drew back, hissing through his teeth with recognition. Rook. Broken and crying out without the knowledge that he was hearing her worries. That God had aligned the stars perfectly for such an act to happen. He had granted Joseph allowance to listen in on Rook, a wayward soul he would give anything for to see apart of his flock.

She screamed, loud and with no words. A whine slipping out a moment later from nearby gunfire that didn’t help with the frame of mind she was falling into. She was a mess, she knew that, knew that if one of the Seeds walked out between the trees and approached her with an offer of ceasefire hanging heavy in the air, that she would sit there and listen. With closed eyes she would take them up on whatever offer they’d present to her because seriously, fuck this war.

“I’m not--not doing it anymore. They can’t make me.” Her words were choppy, cut off with hiccups, “I’m done. I--I...I won’t.” Rook was well aware of the people that relied on her. That so many saw her passing by on the street and knew they could count on her. They could trust that everyday she spent in Hope County was a day spent saving lives. Pushing back the cult that ruled every aspect of their lives.

Without her she wouldn’t be surprised if the resistance in all regions fell apart. She kickstarted those groups of ragtag soldiers after all, gave them hope and power, even footing against the cult. The only ones fighting before she waltzed in was the whitetails, but it was a losing battle for them. Jacob was like a dog with a bone.

She found that she really didn’t care.

“Greed.” Her hands traced a patch of skin to accompany those words that Joseph couldn’t see from where he sat all those miles away. “I won’t do it. Everyone here could go to hell for all I care.” Joseph, with a frown on his face and with a heavy heart, didn’t yet realize the weight or severity of how she spoke. That was until the coming weeks where no one could find deputy Rook. They couldn’t reach her via radio, there was no sightings of her. Jacob’s hunters and John’s Chosen were at a loss.

She was gone. Left the people of Hope County to fend for themselves and ultimately yield to Eden’s Gate.


	21. Joseph/Rook The New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's a fic to commemorate the release of new FarCry 5 content that will be released today!

He was scared.

He could lie—gaze up at her as she fluttered around him with garden shears in her hands as she worked on trimming his beard down—and he would lie right to her face. Smile with teeth that were bright and tell her everything was fine. That he was fine. 

The shaking is what gave it away, the way his fingers jumped and trembled. Or maybe it was how distant he was as he counted down the days like an eager kid on Christmas. He got quiet, prayed more than what was normal. Grabbed her around the waist too many times in one day to the point where she started getting concerned, worried that he would snap with anxiety before the day arrived.

7 years. Disked down to 2 hours now. 

2 hours left and he pulled her away from where she was packing up their stuff, not knowing what was going to greet them outside and not willing to be blindsided, and he asked her to cut his hair.

That’s where they were at. With her being oh so careful snipping around his neck to make him look just as The Father had when he had last seen his flock. His faithful followers that she was praying--for his sake--still believed in him.

Rook was just as scared as him. She just hid it better. Gave him a soft place to land whenever he got that distant look in his eyes and she reminded him that he had always been right. And if he said seven years than it had to be seven years. No more no less. They were leaving. Walking right out of the bunker they had come to know so well into a world not at all like the one they left in a bath of fire. 

They left behind chaos. Corruption and death. They could walk out to find the same thing. Hope replaced with agony in an instant. Maybe Joseph wasn’t a prophet at all, just some crazy man who struck a bizarre coincidence. Or maybe he was a prophet only for a time and a new king was somewhere out there, ready to lead the masses. Someone who wasn’t a worn old man at the age of 49 with a receding hairline and no heirs to take his place. 

But she couldn’t worry, couldn’t voice her pain to Joseph because he was already standing by the stairs. A heavy bag thrown over his shoulder and a tight smile adorning his lips.

“Shall we?” He extended his hand. Wiggled his fingers playfully and waited for her to grab her own equally heavy bag as she made her way towards him. Rook didn’t speak, only grabbed onto a bare shoulder and tugged him down to lay a kiss on his rough stubble. An answer on its own. 

Joseph was the one to open the bunker doors. As heavy as they were and as thin as he had gotten, he shoved them open with vigor. Let them chime and clamor shut with a resounding bang as they swung on their hinges. 

And just that small glimpse of the outside, the feel of sunlight after seven years, the feel of dirt and gravel crunching under torn shoes. Rook was right back there. Stepping out of Dutch’s bunker as a terrified deputy ready to take back her friends and get the hell out before she was killed. It made her knees weak to think like that. So she leaned further on Joseph. Embedded herself into his side as he climbed the steps with care. As if he was afraid such a glorious scene was about to be taken from him. Like he couldn’t believe it was all real.

He broke away from her hold before she could protest. Fell to his knees a few feet to their left and grabbed at grass between clenched fists. Mumbling prayers of thanks she couldn’t quite hear. She understood his relief though. They had been trapped in a metal box. Hearing bombs drop for what seemed like months, felt the earth rocking beneath their feet like the ground was about to open up down the middle and swallow them whole. Then came the rain, not the tiny pitter pattering that lulled a man to sleep, it was rough and violent, like being out on the open sea, “at least it’d put out any fires made previously”, Joseph laughed when he saw the worry on her face all those years ago. And really what came next was worse. Silence. Dead quiet except for the wind. For all they knew the world above could’ve been ash and dust at that time. It was truly a miracle seeing all this grass and fully grown trees. 

It didn’t seem real.

Yet she had the most perfect picture of Joseph worshipping the earth and glancing over his shoulder with tears in his eyes. He was up in an instant when she let her bags crash to the floor along with herself. 

“Rook?” He cupped her cheeks, pulled her in close and kissed at the shell of her ear as she sighed. 

“It’s beautiful.” And it was. With blooming flowers and clear blue skies. 

Joseph hummed. Curled in close until she could feel the heat radiating off his skin. “It is. I'm grateful, I am. Though I can’t help but wish my family was here.” She pulled back with a sharp inhale. Brushed at his saddened tears with her thumbs and whispered apologies against his cheek. Something she’s done a thousand times, but it couldn’t hurt once more. “Jacob and John deserved this Eden. This is what I’ve been telling them both about since we were young. They needed this.” She kept her mouth shut, only kissed him a little bit harder. More on the lips to try and convey her words.

Their heads ended up bowed together. Breathing each other's air and enjoying the fruit of Joseph’s grief. It was peaceful. 

Was.

In the next moment they were pulling apart. Eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and fear. She’s heard that sound before. They both had, instead of twittering birds Hope County was always awoken to one sound that had been ingrained into everyone's head. 

Gunfire.

Off in the distance but so close and a sound neither could forget easily.

Loud pops, rapid fire, a machine gun no doubt. And explosions added to the mix that made their little glass house shatter around them. The screams that followed were worse.

“We should check that out.” He was reaching over slowly to grab at a rucksack she dropped, gathering it in his arms and preparing where to walk. “It might be some of ours.”

“Joseph--”

“I can’t abandon my flock. Not after we’ve come so far.” She saw his pupils grow wide as another round of bullets ricocheted in the distance.

“We need to go back inside, act like we never came out and wait a little longer.”

His mouth opened, ready to argue judging by how his lips were taut and his brows were pulled down. He never got the chance. An arrow whizzed by. Missing him by inches and lodging in the smooth bark of a tree behind him. Not a warning shot, not when another landed equally close to her thigh. Puffing up rocks and dirt before she scrambled to get on her feet. Leaving the bags and yanking Joseph up just as he grabbed his gold bound book. “Run!” 

And run they did. Disappearing in a forest they couldn’t recognize as Hope County. Weaving between trees with strangers at their heels who fired off bullets and arrows alike.

They came looking for Hope. Walked through the gates with Joseph at the helm. And Joseph was wrong. This wasn’t the fresh start for society that he wanted, that the world needed. This was worse. Fear and death doubled tenfold. Only now there was no one to stop the chaos.


	22. Jacob/Rook Nesting

After Rook had…’fulfilled her purpose’, for lack of a better word, she thought Jacob was going to kill her. She climbed her was to the top, quite literally when she former a trail of blood up the curving mountain Jacob had perched atop on with his reddened sniper. She gave in, handed herself over. Fell to her knees and didn’t deliver the last shot that would’ve been fatal.

Her head was down, eyes pinched shut with a prayer that he would make it quick. 

He just collapsed next to her, hand gripping her jaw and laughing under his breath. “You’re alone pup, you know you that. Weak too. And the weak will always have their purpose in this world.” She remembers how he breathed in deep. Inhaling her scent as he groaned from the toxicity of it. “You’re coming with me.” 

Her new purpose, as weak as she was with her mind ridden with guilt, was nothing more than a mate. And she hated how that word made her squirm with enjoyment. Because she wasn’t some fuck toy for Jacob to use when he got bored or when he was stressed and wanted her to sit between his legs as he got work done.

She was his mate. The mark was there to prove it. Glaringly red with frayed skin at the edges. On nights like the one she was going through now, where her heat came on suddenly, she’d lie on Jacob’s bed curled up and run her fingers over that mark. Begging to whatever higher power to make him come home sooner. To do his due diligence as her mate and sate the need between her thighs. 

Instead she was left with the beast inside her, clawing at her stomach and making her nose go on high alert. Sensitive to the smells of his courtyard outside despite the thick concrete walls and lack of windows. 

Rook hadn’t nested since...her eyes closed tight in remembrance. It hadn’t been that long ago honestly, back when Eli was alive and he shoved a bundle of items in her arms with strict orders to lie down, ride out her heat in the Wolf’s Den so Jacob wouldn’t find her in such a needy state. She hadn’t even thanked him for that. She didn’t express her gratitude for keeping her safe, for tucking one of his old shirts in with the mix so she could press her face into it and have the smell of an alpha near.

That’s what she did now, all alone in Jacob’s room with heavy thoughts and not much self preservation to tell her that scrounging around through Jacob’s dresser was a bad idea. 

She picked the coolest spot in his room to battle the sweat breaking out along her skin. Under his desk. It was tight, compact enough to make her feel secure as she nested. Her nerves were alight, bubbling with anticipation as she moved his blankets and assortment of clothes around until she could fit in perfectly, intermingled with his scent as the only thing filling her senses. She could die happy like that. In fact if Jacob wasn’t the type to take kindly to needy omegas feeding off his scent then she very well may get slaughtered by the man himself. She was past caring though, she just needed a time to let her mind wander as she wallowed in her own pity.

In hindsight she should’ve been paying attention to the changing scenery outside the window, or listened to the noises coming behind the walls. Because she was now staring down Jacob Seed, who was bending down, one heavy hand on his desk and the other reaching out towards her expectantly. As if he really believed she would crawl out so willingly.

“Comfy pup?” He moved down completely, kneeling in front of her and getting too close. Filling her nose with a new rush of his scent that his clothes had lost. In any case it had her moaning. Shoving her face into a pair of jeans that had too many holes for any sane man to wear anymore.

“Yeah,” Suddenly his fingers were raking through her hair. Scratching at her scalp in a form of praise she was sure was meant as praise for doing her job, fulfilling her purpose. “You aren’t moving huh?” He rose, taking his scent with him and leaving her feeling a little more than bereft as he came to rest in his chair. His legs kicked out far, bare of the military authorized boots she usually saw him in. Whether intentional or not, she intended to take advantage.

With slow fingers she grabbed at his ankle. Tugging lightly until he followed the motion and let his foot come to a rest by her face. She nuzzled her cheek into his socked foot, accepting more than she ever has.

Rook ignored his breathy chuckle when he realized her intentions weren’t sinister. He gave one last glance at her below his desk, humming the soft tune that got her into this mess in order to keep her calm and pliant. His perfect soldier turned demure mate.


	23. Jacob/Rook Lapdance

She was bold, shoving him back like she was the one who had control. As if Jacob was the most tractable man in Hope County. She may be on top, straddling his thighs as her knees dug into the crappy sofa in some cabin out in the middle of nowhere, and his arms may be crossed over his head in ease, but his eyes told a different story.

There was a dangerous glint there. A warning shot towards her to not try anything stupid. Because they weren’t friends and trust wasn’t earned even if neither of them were yet to pin the other down. Just two people stuck in the midst of a storm and riding out the worst of it in a cabin as big as a single room. 

“You that bored dep? Or have you been waiting to do this? Imagining me under you?”

She laughed at that. Hands moving to his shoulders and feeling him tense when she crept her fingers up to his throat and back down to the center of his chest. Rook hadn’t exactly asked. Just sorta...pushed him and prayed he wouldn’t paint the walls with her blood and slit her throat with the knife strapped to his thigh distractingly pushing into her skin.

Turns out the soldier was surprisingly compliant. Maybe not used to being treated the way she was trying to. She smiled at him, moving in close enough to kiss him. “The latter.” She breathed, watching how his pupils grew, eating up the blue and leaving a ring of sapphire. Rook placed a kiss in the center of his chest on a patch of barely exposed skin. With little finesse she climbed off him, cheeks growing pink from how he laughed at her when she almost face planted. His hand hovered over her hip as she turned around, reaching over to palm at her ass through her jeans.

“Gonna take these off? Not much of a show.” He was mumbling under his breath, more excited than she thought he’d be. 

“Aren't I supposed to set the pace?” He just shrugged when she glanced over her shoulder. He did comply to her scolding though. Smiling slightly as he leaned back in the cushions. Palming at himself already. 

Jacob was touchy feely. Never able to listen to her for long enough to just sit back and watch. When she bent at the waist he was quick to lean forward. Hands sliding over her backside through her jeans. Wrangling around to the front to tug at her zipper and pulled her closer. When Rook spun around to face him with flushed cheeks, he was still hovering an inch over her skin. Ready to grab at whatever she was about to put on display.

And she didn’t disappoint. Reaching down to grapple with her jeans that he helped her work down her legs. “God look at that.” A soft praise as he ran over her exposed thighs. Making her feel naked with how he leered at her. “So fucking pretty pup.”

She wanted more of that, was hungry for hearing his words. That thought had some surge of confidence flood her brain as she flashed a smile and stretched her leg up to rest on his shoulder. An action that made Jacob grab at her ankle to tip further in the air. It provided him a view that had him cursing low under his breath. His finger reached out to pull her panties out of the way minutely. Just enough to show him how her cunt was twitching restlessly when spread. “All that wetness cause of me honey?”

Rook shouldn’t have been the one who was flustered. Yet she was like a teenager all over again as she scrambled to climb on top of him. Straddling his waist with hands resting on his shoulders. Fingers restlessly grabbing at the fabric of his shirt as she hovered over his cock. His hands were on her hips, coaxing her down when she didn’t move right away. 

His actions had him snarling out a curse when she finally began moving on her own. Grinding down into him and pulling back whenever his head tipped back or he let a low moan slip.

“Such a fucking tease.”

“That’s sorta the point of a lapdance Jacob.”

He grunted. Lips twisting as he directed his attention further north. Resigning himself to grab at her breasts as she worked him over through his jeans. He slipped a hand down her shirt, shoving her bra out of the way to palm at her flesh. Each sweep of his finger to her nipple was like an electric shock. And he knew. Saw how sensitive she was.

“Piss off, I’m not fucking you.”

“You will.”

She blinked once, twice. Movements stopping as she fully sat on him. “Jacob.” Warning in her voice like she was talking to a child. “I’ll get off.”

Jacob’s hands were back at her hips. A glare held strong in his eyes as he minutely shook his head. And just like that she was reminded why he was the enemy, that he was a terrible human being who didn’t like being teased and now was hard, wanting. Cock pressing on her inner thigh insistently.

“You forget who’s in control here so quickly dep?” He pulled her close, slamming her into his chest hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Leaving her sputtering into the crook of his neck. Rook squirmed, redoubling her efforts when his grip only tightened. 

 

“I practically own you. You know that I’m the one that point you in the right direction, I’ve made you strong. Think It’s time for you to trust my judgment right now.”

“You’re not fucking me.”

“Mhm. Keep telling yourself that honey.”


	24. John/Rook Nighttime Ritual

His hand was clutching onto the radio like a lifeline. Gripping so hard that the plastic was cracking, threatening to snap if he wasn’t careful. And he needed to be careful, so his hold loosened just barely on the one thing keeping him sane. Though at this point it was more the idea of the radio and the possibilities it held that was making sure his mind didn’t crumble any further. 

His lips trembled, a thin line of sweat covering his skin as the radio pressed into his cheek. He rehearsed the words in his head. Went over his tone, how he could say it, imagined the response he would get. Or lack thereof if God wanted him to suffer further. 

“You awake Rook?”

John wasn't left waiting. Not when Rook had been through this before. Had watched John slip into the role of Judas beautifully as she guided him with gentle hands that he had hardly experienced. They’ve had nights just like this one. With John miles away curled up in the fetal position and begging for Rook to be there with him. “This once, only this once. It won’t happen again.” It would. This was the fourth time this month.

She didn’t mind. Couldn't deny him after seeing first hand how John was plagued with nightmares. Ones that held him in their grasp and kept him terrified. Made him into nothing more than a scared boy again when he woke with fear in his eyes. 

That’s why time and time again she found herself in John’s large bed with the AC blasting and the low hum of music coming from a playlist on his phone. He’d tangle limbs around her body and whine in her neck. Their routine didn’t change, it couldn’t. Not when this was working so perfectly for them. With John slowly regaining every last shred of humanity Eden’s Gate had torn so brutally from his grasp. He spoke with a gentler voice, didn’t force people down into bliss soaked water the first chance he got, knives seemed to disappear from confession overnight.

And no one knew why.

Rook was content with that. Wasn’t looking for credit. Didn’t mind that no one was throwing her a victory lap. She already had a gift in her eyes, she had received a fine reward for placating the Baptist. Nights like this reminded her of that. Nights where John didn’t mind showing his soft side and let her run soothing hands over old scars formed when he still had his innocence. It was worth it, even if it made them both traitors to their respective sides.


	25. Jacob/m!Rook Animalistic Urges

“Back the fuck off.” Panted out words that barely held any weight when Rook was struggling to hold himself up, pistol trained right at the doorway. Aiming the best he could manage from his position on the floor. Hoping that if he pulled the trigger he would at least get somewhere near Jacob’s head and not break a window. “Now’s not the time.” And it wasn’t, those words weren’t for show. He wasn’t being dramatic. In fact he didn’t think it would ever be the proper time to fall into his heat when he was fighting a war.

Jacob still looked stunned. After everything Rook knew about the man he never thought he’d see the day where he was speechless. Yet Jacob was hesitating in the entrance, fingers turning white at where they were gripped around the handle. His nose was twitching, even with how far Rook was he could see that, see how Jacob was assessing the situation. Trying to figure out why the fuck he walked in on Rook curled up on the floor in front of a raging fireplace to keep his dick from freezing off, because he was naked, bare as the day he was born. And indecent enough to be rutting against a pillow like an animal.

He cleared his throat, finally stepping in the tiny beat-up cabin Rook had stumbled upon when he had snarled out a breathy whine of ‘If you’re not gonna leave at least close the door! You’re letting all the cold air in.’

“So uh,” Jacob scanned the room, landing back on Rook’s frozen form--noting how he was squirming to keep from full on bucking into the cotton shoved between his thighs, “You usually spend your Mondays like this deputy?”

Rook breathed in deep. Ignored how his cock pulsed and slick poured out of him like his own body was perfectly fine committing treason if it meant Jacob would shove something up his ass. “You’re so fucking funny huh Jacob? You should be a comedian when you grow up.” And that got him a bark of laughter as Jacob kneeled down—10 feet away but too close for the very fragile thread he was hanging off of—and the man smiled...like an asshole. Finally finding even footing as Rook’s scent filled the enclosed room fully. He was a man of 40, he knew that smell.

“It’s not safe for an omega to be alone in his heat, all alone, no mate. And out here in the mountains…” Jacob whistled, head dropping in mock sorrow, “well honey I thought you were smarter than that.”

Rook couldn’t help but snarl. His lips rose as he snapped out at Jacob. Anger bubbling in his gut when the soldier didn’t even flinch.

_ Fucking power hungry alpha. _

Maybe If Rook asked nicely Jacob would very kindly piss off and leave. Go back the way he came and forget where Rook was riding out his heat. For once he could show mercy.

Not that such a notion seemed probable, because Jacob was extending a hand out to him. Palm faced up, like Rook was some dog in need of soothing. Ready to lash out at everyone who came near. And he wasn’t too far off. Rook was already tensing up, aware he was defenseless, literally caught with his pants down and way too needy.

“Poor thing.” Cooed so softly in Rook’s direction that he had to strain his ears to hear it. The fact he might miss something coming out of Jacob’s mouth had him leaning closer. He was rewarded for his efforts with a usually rough hand turned gentle curling through his hair. Ruffling the strands and smoothing down to the nape of his neck to pet at the locks that twisted and curved.

“Good boy.”

Rook full on moaned at that. Felt a rush of heat blossom through his stomach as his hips jerked into the pillow. Chasing a release he had stopped moments before all because Jacob was  _ talking  _ to him. He was gone though, too far gone on his little island that he didn’t care that this was probably a trap. Laid out so perfectly for Jacob that he didn’t even need to try this time around.

Rook kept his eyes slightly open, jerked whenever they closed for even a second. He wasn't that stupid, didn’t want to get that far into his heat where he started showing the soft side of his underbelly to the enemy. Not like it seemed to matter, this whole thing was more of a game to Jacob going by the ever-present smile on his lips.

Jacob inched forward. Scooted closer on his knees with a hand still buried in Rook’s hair. He tipped his chin up with his free hand. Made Rook look up at him. “What do you want pup? You gotta tell me.” His eyes darted back to where Rook was humping the pillow, hips moving in small circles as his cock leaked. It was red and angry from the stimulation. Wanting a human touch more than anything.

“I don’t know.” It came out as an awful whine. Though his head couldn’t drop forward from the strong grip Jacob had on him. “Just need to cum.”

Jacob laughed. Tipped his head down until they were only inches apart and Rook was puffing hot breath over the bridge of Jacob’s nose. “I can work with that.” He disentangled his grip from the younger man’s hair to slide down his spine, slick with sweat. He stopped at his ass, squeezing one of his cheeks before leaning down to whisper in Rook’s ear. “You gonna let me go behind you? Give you what you need?”

“God yes.”

That was really all Jacob needed to change positions. To coax Rook’s hips up with legs splayed as much as he could manage. The pillow was yanked away to give Jacob room to work. He gripped onto either cheek, pulling it apart to reveal his twitching hole. Clenching around an imaginary mate that he was desperate for.

He bent his head, licking from Rook’s balls up to his hole. An action that had Rook’s hips swaying restlessly. Jacob went slow with the stroked of his tongue. Licked around the ring of muscle before pulling away to gather up his slick with a single finger. Though that never went inside him, just twirled round and round. Not exactly meant to be teasing, just preparatory.

“Not a fucking virgin Jacob.” His leg landed, hitting Jacob’s thigh and rammed into his stomach next. He held back any words about him being a needy omega and only gazed up at Rook with wide eyes. “Make me cum. Shove your fingers in my ass and fuck me Seed. Act like a fucking alpha for God’s sake.”

He didn’t break eye contact as he followed instructions, taking two fingers and pushing them inside. “Maybe not a virgin. Still tight though.”

Rook just grunted, head falling forward on the wood floor. He couldn’t argue with that. Not when Jacob was only one finger in, up to his first knuckle and it was already starting to hurt. His body pulling taut around the intrusion.

So he let Jacob work. Laid on the cold wooden floor that helped to stave off the heat in his core, rutting against the pillow because Jacob was paying zero attention to the growing need between Rook’s legs. Content to watch him fall apart and lose his mind on just his fingers shoved up inside him alone.

“Think you can cum like this?” Jacob didn’t need to clarify his question when he slid a second finger in and twisted them around wickedly, sending Rook into a flurry of curse words. “Is this good enough for you pup? Or are you as greedy as John likes to think you are?” That sentence had certain implications, even if they didn’t directly relate to how much Rook wouldn’t at all mind treating both brothers when his heat rolls around and instead was referencing to the younger brother’s obsession for sin. But the former sounded so much more appealing. It had Rook imagining Jacob exactly where he was, only with the added addition of John kneeling in front of him. Cooing softly in his ear with his cock shoved down his throat until Rook was choking on it.

He came seconds later from that image, with a cruel bubbling want curling in his stomach. He spilled out over his skin and the now ruined pillow that wasn’t even his.

Jacob laughed lowly. Pulling his fingers out and leaning over Rook to grab at his jaw and tilt his head up. “What? That’s all you got in ya?” He couldn’t answer, was too sensitive, too tired and dazed on how nice Jacob’s scent turned hot and sweet when he was aroused. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind coming back with me. I can help you, honey, you won’t be left wanting.” Jacob didn’t give him time to answer, just stood, dragging Rook with him, not wasting time hauling him over his shoulder with a bounce in his step and a whistled tune falling from his lips.


	26. John/Rook Advantageous

The hit delivered to her temple had been a little rough. A tad too much force behind the butt of a gun aiming to render her defenseless by one of his own. John couldn't fault the man, his people were angry. And the way he saw things, they had every right to be, this woman had waltzed into Hope County and started her warpath right at his feet.

The scolding he gave to his men for their wrath was only for show. If just to appease those who were just as serious as The Father about keeping their sin in check. John wished he would’ve been the one to bring her to her knees. He’d have time for that though. With her tucked away with him as her keeper....yeah, so long as she fought him--and he already knew the trouble that followed quick at her heels like a pack of wolves--then he was sure he’d have fun with this new development for sure.

John held her close to his side. Ignoring the pride he felt at carting her inside his ranch. Showing the men that littered the area that the deputy was his. That he was the one to capture her, render her incapacitated. Word might get back to Joseph, maybe he’d get a reward for his troubles. 

And it was trouble. Keeping such a volatile woman in his home because Joseph didn’t want her stored in a bunker, wanted better treatment for a woman he believed to be special. He could play along if it meant pleasing Joseph and walking through the gates of Eden a changed man.

That’s why he was letting the enemy in his home. Leading her up the stairs and carrying the brunt of her weight as he struggled shoving open his door. He allowed her entrance and total view to his personal space. The place he laid his head down to rest. Now he had to share. And he’d be lying if he said that when Joseph dropped that particular piece of news John didn’t feel like a petty child greeting a new sibling to the family. 

That greed never really went away. No matter how much Joseph urged it to with knives alongside well-intended words. 

John hovered. Stayed by the edge of the bed he laid Rook in, not bothering to pull up a chair. Opting to lean back on his heels until his ankles grew weary and his hand had long past mussed up her hair with how he kept petting over her. Trying to see past the wrath she always brought along with her like a black cloud above her head. If God wanted to have mercy on him this once in his life then He would take away her wrath within a single moment and not let John go through weeks of rehabilitation with such an awful sinner who was yet to properly confess despite him already marking her.

He prays every night. So it was nothing new when he bowed his head close to her chest with clasped hands to complete the action. His lips moved, silently mumbling the words of pleas. To make this easy for once. To have Rook join him, to accept the Father. Because like it or not, Eden’s Gate wasn’t ready for the end. Not yet, there was still so much to be done. And if this woman signaled the end and was to be their downfall, they were screwed. John prayed for just a little more time, maybe if she was one of them, the collapse would be prolonged enough until they were all ready to head underground. 

It was like that, with tufts of loose hair dangling, barely brushing over Rook’s chest, that she awoke. With a gasp and strangled whine, no surprise when he pulled back just in time to see her wince, one of his own slammed a gun to her temple, of course she’d be in pain. 

John wasn’t tense, he was smart enough to know that he was in control. That he had all the leverage in this situation and she had nowhere to go. He laughed, drawing her attention as she scrambled to prop herself up on her elbows. “Checkmate, deputy.” He leaned forward, head tipped to the side when he garnered no reaction. It was a chess joke, her name was Rook. He was expecting something. Anything other than the blank zombie-eyed stare she was giving him. Her mouth flopped open and closed, repeating the motion two times over before a huff left her lips.

 

“What?” And now a frown was settling into place because she almost looked scared. His deputy was fearless, a snarky woman who by now he expected to be launching herself at him despite having a concussion. That was her, the one he’s come to love at some moments for her tenacity and hate when she was the sole source of why he was so damn stressed with Joseph not doing much better.

He leaned in closer to her, lifting himself off the floor to balance a knee on the bed. They were sharing the same air, and she wasn’t flinching. Wasn’t recoiling away and spewing curse words his way. Her eyes lacked wrath, making the tattoo on her chest seem null and void. He cradled her head, moving slowly like he was afraid he’d startle her. “How are you feeling dep? You all there?” With those words he drew back a hand to snap in her face. Sighing when she only jumped at the sudden noise.

“Does anything hurt?” Trying to get anything from her that told him that blow to the head hadn’t scrambled her mind and fucked her up for good. 

All he got was a subtle shake of her head and not much else.

“Do you know what year it is? Your name, for fuck's sake.” John snapped, joking more than anything. She wasn’t hit that hard. No way she didn’t remember. After all that she did to Holland Valley and all the funds he poured into repairing the damage she wrought, she had to remember. It wasn’t fair otherwise.

But the mask of confusion she wore told a different story than one he wanted to believe. It made him sag downward. Moving to practically straddle her. He wanted to say he was on top of her to check her story, because if this was a cruel joke then he was hoping something like this, with their bodies pressing tight to each other, would make her fly into a frenzy of panicked movements.

Nothing. She just squirmed higher up to lean on the headboard, something he couldn’t read in her eyes.

There was anger, sure, he was pissed that his prayers went through and God had gifted him this. A new mess to deal with. But if Joseph was here, if he knew about this turn of events--which he would eventually--then he would tell John to reconsider his unchecked wrath. That God had taken his cries of help into consideration and gave him what he wanted in the form He saw best. John couldn’t take that for granted. 

So John turned soft. Made his eyes lose their fire and replaced it with well-practiced warmth. It was almost too easy for John to see how this all connected to some greater plan. Simple for him to coo at a deputy who forgot the vehemence she once held for him. 

And when her confusion was incorrectly transformed into tranquility, John felt successful for the first time in a while. Joseph had told him this one would reach atonement. She was so close, the sin scrawled across her chest told him that. For once he felt like everything was starting to all go to plan, he could wind her up and watch her go fulfill Eden’s Gate largest of dreams.

“You’re safe darling.” One of the many things he told her to ease her nerves and soothe her conscience until she was nodding along with everything he was saying. “You trust your husband don’t you?” That slipped out, came tumbling from his lips before he could rethink it. 

“Y--yeah.”

He gave a curt nod, a jerk of his head that made him sigh with relief since he was stupid enough to try and spin such a story. “I am trying my hardest, trying to keep you safe from the ones who did this to you.” His fingers tugged her shirt to the side to unveil the tattoo he had given her. “It’s dangerous out there, I’ve told you this time and time again.” He hasn’t, she would never sit still long enough for him to ever tell her how right he was and how wrong she was. Starting now though he could tell her whatever the hell he wanted. 

It was working, as guilty as he should feel for lying like the way he was, at least it was working. Rook bowed her head, a look of disgust and pain etching over her features as she touched along her marred skin, brushing alongside his finger in the process. 

“I’m keeping you safe from the kind of monster who do this for no reason.” He understood the irony, and if Jacob was here they’d be sharing glances between each other. 

“Did they do this to you?” Rook’s hand left her own chest in favor for John’s. Pushing his key out of the way with her pinkie finger and running the pad of her thumb over the words sloth permanently torn into his flesh. 

“They did.” He cupped her cheeks again, risking the moment to press a kiss to the side of her mouth. “I’ll protect you though, no need to worry.” There was a look of skepticism over her face that made him breathe in deep. “You have to trust me,” Pleading because really she didn’t have to do shit for him, she could try to walk out right now and his story would fall apart. “Please.”

Rook shifted, not like she could move very much with how he was still sitting over her thighs. Her mouth twisted, eyes angling down then shut. Focused on something. 

“You’re not wearing a ring.” 

He froze. Hands dropping from her cheeks and curling in his lap as if he could now hide them.

“I don’t have one either.”

There was the anger, bubbling there as she saw through him so easily. Perceptive even when her memory was dead and gone. “You’re mine.”

“Through marriage or obsession?” He gawked at her. Shoving her down when she chanced trying to get up. 

“Look.” His hand clamped down over her mouth before she could try to speak. “I am your husband, I don’t care if you don’t see that now. You will. If I have to tie you down to the bed for weeks with you relying on nothing but my hands to nourish you, then so be it. You will remember me,” His eyes clamped shut to block out the anguish appearing on her face. “You will, for the sake of Eden’s Gate.”


	27. Jacob/Rook Purpose

Most days Rook questioned where she had gone wrong in life to deserve what was happening to her. She went over each moment up until she walked into Hope County and found herself heading right for Jacob. Eden’s Gate very own guard dog. 

Taking him out first made sense, after all, how was a fanatical cult supposed to wage a religious war without the commander of their army? There was clear, concise logic behind it. She just didn’t anticipate how brutal the man would turn out to be. She didn’t think he’d have psychology techniques embedded in his head like all of this was second nature.

To be fair on her part, she didn’t back down. Even after that first encounter ended with bloodshed from fanciful people in her head formed by Jacob’s conditioning. Rook went at him twice as hard. Thought maybe it would dissuade Jacob, that there’d be some slim chance that he never thought there’d be someone so reckless who would go up against him running around his region with a shotgun on her back with the special purpose of destroying the glaring red wolf beacons he erected and shooting his men in the back when they tried to defend the outposts assigned to them.

All fun and games until Jacob got mad. He could try to hide it over the carefully planned radio calls, but she could hear it in his voice. She could pinpoint the exact moment when this all got serious for him and he was done playing games.

Rook wasn’t scared then. 

She is now though. Terrified at why Jacob would stick her in a cozy room after weeks of keeping her locked in a cage just as everyone else. He fed her scraps of suspicious meat and drops of water, barely enough to keep her alive. Then suddenly she was thrown in a small room, chained down to a bed that was clean, cool blankets resting under her naked form.

Because apparently Jacob had given orders for her to be stripped down. Another humiliation tactic? She wouldn’t put it past him.

Rook kept her eyes shut firmly, trying to ward off the chill coming from seemingly nowhere by delving into her mind. If she tried hard enough she’d be able to forget where she was. Just tune out the howling wolves and the never-ending moans coming from whatever poor person Jacob had sunken his claws into. And that thought had all her muscles tending as some snide voice reminded her in her head that she too was a prisoner here. That Jacob already had her. He was only playing the waiting game.

“Just get it over with.” Mumbled with eyes still shut, talking to herself because there was no one else and going insane was becoming a very real possibility.

“Get what over with exactly?”

She jerked, legs kicking out against the metal frame, rattling chains that connected her to the bed when she caught sight of Jacob standing at the doorway In the small room, her breathing quickening was so easy to hear.

“Asked you a question dep.”

She tipped her head back to avoid his prying gaze. Didn’t anticipate how he’d cross the room so silently with intentions of grabbing her chin and forcing their eyes to lock. “Get. Over. What. What’s going on inside your head? What do you think I’m gonna do to you?” His fingers were forming bruises on her skin when she remained quiet. He puffed out a laugh with how she squirmed uncomfortably. “Scared?”

“Fuck you.”

Jacob didn’t react. Worse things had been said and done just to get under his skin. He knew not to entertain childish notions by getting angry. That was John’s way of dealing with things, Jacob had his own methods that actually worked. 

He took a few steps back with arms crossed over his chest. Rose an eyebrow after her squirming had died down. “You done?”

“Am I done?” 

He stopped listening after that accusatory sarcastic tone fell into her voice. He didn’t sign up to babysit someone who acted like a child. So he dropped his head forward with a slight shake of disbelief. Stepping closer to her until he hovered over her body, fist curled in the mattress beside her head. Other hand placed on her stomach, pushing down until she gasped and her words sputtered to a halt from the pressure. “Yeah, you’re done.” He mumbled, dragging a hand up to rub across her jaw only for her to jerk back as much as she could when he was so close.

“You’re smart. I’ll give ya a minute to think about why I’m doing this. About how beneficial this’ll be.” 

He was climbing on top of her. A loose grin playing at his lips which she was more focused on instead of answering his question. He wasn’t paying much mind to how she was tossing her body around in a show of resistance. Her hips bucked, knocking into his own a few times with how violently she was moving. He rose over her on his knees, going slow as he tugged off his belt. Face stoic as she panted from exertion and writhed on the mattress. 

“Got any ideas for me?” He beared down on her, pressing their bodies close as his forearms framed her head. “C’mon honey, I know how smart you are.” And that praise did weird things to her. Probably all those weeks of conditioning turning her brain to mush. They had the intended effect, the one that made Jacob smile at such a pretty sight. Where all her bones turned to jelly and her muscles were no longer strained.

The perfect picture of serenity. Quite the opposite of what she should be feeling with a 200-pound man crushing her ribs and currently tossing his pants and underwear onto the floor with little care for where they landed.

“Speak Pup.” She laid still, eyes blank, looking up at him. Some weak attempt at defiance. Only problem being that Jacob had been doing this for a lot longer than she has. 

His fingers were suddenly crammed down her throat with little warning. Moving further and further until he was hooking around deep inside her mouth and she was coughing around the intrusion. “I don’t need you zoning out on me. I’m so fucking done with your disobedience, I just need you to cooperate one more time then we’ll both be done. Real easy.”

He kept his fingers in her throat as his free hand explored. Working across her chest with a roughness indicating it had been too long since he had touched someone. His hands were chilled, peaking her nipples when he grazed over them. 

“Mouth’s too fucking full to talk huh?” Jacob squeezed at her breast, fingers making her skin red when her throat tightened, trying to protest. “Hush. None of that.” He tugged at her nipple, rolling the bud around as he spoke. “As much as Joseph wants to think that only the chosen ones will survive the collapse, we’ve gotta repopulate. Can’t just sit around with our thumbs up our asses. Gotta get a head start if we wanna rebuild.” He yanked his fingers out, glaring at the string of saliva that connected them. 

He continued on, acting like she wasn’t coughing and panting, struggling to suck in air after what he put her through. “That’s what I’ve been telling my troops. Joseph though, now he doesn’t believe that story when I can have a number of people to populate the earth with, spread my seed like a damn wolf. Think John recommended that once.” He blinked at her when she calmed down, saw how wrecked she was so soon. “Starting a harem y’know? And since I’m choosing you and not grabbing a handful of sluts, I need some explanation to tell Joseph, one that he’ll believe. Wanna know what I told him?”

He cocked his head to the side, hair falling in his eyes, needing to be cut soon she distantly realized, but not yet a priority when he had her all tied up and ready. 

With both hands free he smoothed them down her stomach. Blunt nails creating tracks in too pale skin until he reached her hips, pausing for a moment to keep their eyes connected. 

“I told my brother that this’ll keep you right here with me. That you wouldn’t be able to continue your antics if you were pregnant. He was pretty much on board after that. And it’s not really a lie either, it’s come to mind a few times, never thought It’d get this bad where I’d actually go and do it.” He sighed. Long and deep and oh so fake as he shifted to position his cock to rest on her pubic bone. “You’ve only got yourself to blame.”

Rook whined. Tipped her head back and let out a loose whimper that sounded pathetic to her own ears. Not like she could care. Jacob had probably seen so much. Had witnessed thousands of people at their weakest. The sight was nothing he wasn’t used to judging by how he didn’t react. Only moved to grab something on the floor. Tossing it up in the air and catching it with ease before placing the object on her stomach.

A music box. Blue wood carved with patterns that looked tribal. Nothing she’s ever seen before. 

“As much as those two stories helped make all this happen,” he gestured around vaguely to the empty room, “it gave me the go ahead to see this through too, I’ve got an ulterior motive, everyone always does. Nothing is ever selfless.” Spoken like he was teaching a lesson on life and not sitting between her splayed legs with his cock in his hand and his finger tipping open the music box. 

“Can’t say I’m adverse to starting a family. ‘Bout time with how old I am. Gonna need someone after the collapse so I don’t lose my mind. We’ll be one big happy family.” It was personal now. Wasn’t for show for the brother who had a watchful eye over the county, or his men who would benefit from a lesson on reproduction and filling their roles, suddenly it was different with that reason. The fact that the thought of a family had Jacob looking down at her with a smile was unnerving, she almost didn’t believe it. “You’ll make a fine mother. And I’m not about to let you run from your kid.”

He didn’t give her a chance to defend herself. Where did he get off? Thinking that she would be shitty enough to run for safety and abandon her child where they’d stay in the hands of a psychopath. Jacob drew her attention back to the present before she could speak out against him when he took gentle fingers and spread her folds. Exposing her entrance to the air where her clit visibly pulsed. His thumb was slow and careful when it brushed over her clit, almost lovingly if not for the ever-present threat of the music box. Resting on her naval and bobbing with each breath she took. He followed her line of sight, grabbing at it, now with an open lid to expose the metal inside. “Figured it’ll be easier like this. Some conditioning to ease your conscience, move things on a bit faster too.” Besides that he didn’t explain any further. Let her wonder in horror as to what he could do as he set the music box by her head and dipped a finger in her cunt.

Rook breathed out, shaky and uncertain. Whimpering because she wanted to moan out to him even though she knew how wrong that was, she ached to beg for him to unbind her wrists so she could pull him close. Instead she pressed herself the opposite way, back into the bed, whining when he only doubled his efforts. A second finger curling inside her so easily with how wet she was.

That fact didn’t escape him, she was sure nothing ever could. “All of this and just cause of my fingers? We could’ve solved our little problem sooner if you woulda just told me how bad you needed to be fucked.” He slid his fingers out, rough calluses brushing along her sensitive walls in a bitter farewell so he could grab at her jaw until they were inches apart. “That’s what you want sweetheart? Do you want me to fuck you?”

She did in fact not answer. Kept her mouth stubbornly shut to save some sense of pride in her so when this was all said and done she could have the knowledge that she didn’t ask for it. He didn’t turn her into a pleading mess below him. 

“We’re quiet today.” He observed softly. Not that he minded. Too busy grabbing hold of his cock to rest at her entrance. He’d have her singing for him soon enough. 

And it was easy to do that. Her nerves were torn at the seams. Waiting for some man like Jacob to come along with a dick large enough to suit the job. The initial push into her, as his head slipped inside, had her gasping for air like a fish. A sharp snap of his hips and she was already his. He could see it in her eyes, the moment both of them knew that he caught her for good. Probably around the same time his thumb delved between her folds as he rubbed at her clit in sharp circles. Pressing down on the reddened nub hard until she was seeing stars. His cock was slamming right where a bundle of sensitive nerves laid, stroking at the perfect spot inside her with each push and pull.

He sunk in deeper, shuffling close until their hips were flush and he was practically on top of her. Trapping her in with cage-like hands that were balled into fists beside her head. Hot breath was fanning over her ear from how near he was. 

When her own breathing hitched, a warmth coiling low in her stomach, that’s when he went slow. Changed his sporadic pace that was bruising her walls into something much softer. He was rolling his hips, using his thumb to toy were her clit, keeping her on the edge but not doing nearly enough to make her cum.

“Ready pup?” 

Rook wasted no time nodding, begging just like she said she never would. Pleas of his name and ‘yes’ and ‘more’ falling from her lips. Too far into her own pleasure to notice him grab the dyed blue music box that first caused her concern.

He placed it on her stomach again, drawing back to give him room as he wound it up with a single hand. “Go on, take what you need. Take what I’m giving you dep.” 

The music sped up, some disjointed tune that scratched at somewhere deep inside her mind and made her wince. Jacob’s rough fingers were back on her clit, his touch and the light thrusts pushing into her is what tipped her over that precipice. The music took hold around the same time she came and was already working its magic. Tying together the song Jacob had chosen--one Rook didn’t recognize--and the boiling hot warmth in her core that made her cum.

His praise filled her ears. An extra layer to the conditioning that made her numb to every sensation around her except Jacob.

She came back to her frame of mind with the feeling of his seed filling her up in hot spurts. He stayed tightly inside her, keeping her plugged. He traced her inner thigh soothingly, closing the music box as the last of her trembling died down.

“Think you can do that again for me? Only me, right pup? From now on you’ll only ever have that reaction for me.”


	28. John/Rook Sealed Fate

He was glaring at her from his spot across the room. And for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why. She could admit that he had his reasons for wanting her dead, for wishing that he could take every item he kept stashed away in that toolbox that now laid overturned—the same time he smashed his workbench to the ground in a fit of rage—and use it on her skin like an artist shaping out a diving image. With all the tattoos he had the title wasn’t far from deserved either.

Yet there was something else in his eyes, hatred, no doubt. But an emotion she was finding hard to place. How he moved and spoke seemed off too. There wasn’t that normal cadence he had when she saw him on the TV screens littered across the county moments before her baseball bat connected with them. His hand motions, which he always had, whether it be a simple outreach towards someone or a palm laid flat to his chest, those were gone as well.

He was starting to scare her.

“I’ve been thinking about what’s keeping you from confessing.” His footsteps were loud as he got close, echoing in the large room dedicated for torture just like this. “There is something that always holds a person back when they are weary of speaking to me. Whether it be from a past trauma or the rumors they’ve heard about Eden’s Gate. Maybe a loved one missing for too long or…” He was standing a foot away from her. Thumbs shoved in his pocket with a hip jutted out. Looking down, not meeting her eyes. “Can you think of anything else that could stop a person from bearing their sins to me?”

“Maybe because you carve into them.”

“How else am I suppose to release their sins, bare their souls for all to see?”

Rook lifted her head more so than it already was. Fighting to find his gaze and shuddering when she finally did. “Normal baptists, normal churches, at confession I can assure you that physical pain isn’t apart of it.” This shouldn’t have to be a conversation, though she left that part out.

He shrugged, tipping his head back fully and breathing out a sigh. Easy steps that moved forward until he could bend at the waist, fingers clasping around her forearms, sliding down until his hands were covering her own. “I’m not about to argue about this like a child. Not when we have more pressing matters to attend to deputy. And I’d like to start with the fact that you are not being honest with me. You are not speaking to me as you should.”

She laughed. It might’ve been stupid considering what she was facing, what a man like John promised to bring to the table. “I’ll talk John. I’ll do it gladly if it means getting the fuck out of here.” Rook knew this whole thing was bigger than her. That every lost moment out on the streets meant some helpless person left at the mercy of some Peggie wanting bloodshed. She had a job, a role to fulfill. Rook would get her tattoo if it would get her outside quicker. Back to the front line where she had made herself at home. “So what should we talk about John?”

“This.” His words came with a rough squeeze of her fingers. One that was almost bruising. “What the fuck is this?”

 

He was brushing over her ring. A silver band. Nothing fancy, not that thick, it wasn’t shiny. Hardly noticeable. Especially with the fact that it wasn’t even offset with a sparkly diamond, one to mark any sort of engagement. It was probably the cheapest money could buy.

John’s adams apple bobbed roughly. Jerked taut under his skin as his muscles tensed and he waited for an answer. 

“It’s called a wedding ring.”

“Didn’t realize you had a husband. Would never have guessed it.”

“Oh now I’m just offended John. I think I’m a catch.”  _ Pride. _

He held up a single finger.  Head tipped to the side, near her chest. “No. Let me finish. I would never have guessed that our little deputy is married and has a husband somewhere in the world who let their wife run off to do such a dangerous job. A husband who hasn’t even tried to contact the cops or me or anyone of my siblings to inquire about their missing wife in Hope County who hasn’t called home in months.” John sounded exasperated. Hair tickling the exposed skin on her chest meant for her supposed sin. He breathed out a subtle shaky sigh.

“Because I can treat you so much better.” He perked up like he suddenly came to an astute realization. Switching her grip from her fingers to her shoulders. Yanking them as close as he could manage before continuing. “I can buy you a better ring than this piece of junk. I can give you whatever you need, I can keep you safe! Don’t you see that this is God’s will? He sent you to me, He’s giving us better lives than we could have ever hoped for.”

“He loves me.”

“Loved.” John snapped, like he had the full story and wasn’t just bouncing between ideas in his head in order to fit his agenda. He Jumped up and away from her. Pacing around like a caged animal. “That man isn’t here and you can admit to me that he no longer cares for you. If that’s the first thing you’d like to confess then I’ll take it.” He was urging her with wide eyes, still not stopping with how he walked back and forth. Hands curled up into fists that could provoke if need be.

Would be as easy as just telling him what he wanted to hear? Would he back off or would it fuel whatever fire was burning inside him?

Rook breathed in deep, ignored how his eyes darted down to her rapidly rising and falling chest. It could be that simple, with her saying one word in order to spare those in Hope County. The lives of the few….the lives of the many…

“You’re thinking about it. Realizing how right I am.”

“Maybe I am.” She confirmed softly. Lies, such dirty lies tripping over her tongue that it felt like treason. It caught his attention though. Stopped him dead in his tracks and made him rush forward like the words would suddenly drift away and get lost in their enclosed space. He cupped her face, getting close as he kneeled down.

“Yes, you are aren't you? I can see it in your eyes.”

Either he was blind or lying like she was. There was rage settled beneath her skin. Burying in deep so that when she uttered the words he longed to hear that he would take her from his bunker with caring hands that would leave a promise of never hurting her. She’d spin tales for him in this moment and in weeks to come he’d relaxed and believe that she was finally his. Standing beside him as a saving grace.

He could be happy. And she would gain quite the advantage.

He would notice one night that the ring he so despised was gone from her fingers, lost somewhere so that the final shreds of tensions between them would dissipate. In reality it was hidden in the toe of her boot. Later that same night he’d draw her in near when he brought her to a sermon given by Joseph, he’d hold her hand tight and smile at his brother in triumph, and his dutiful sibling would reflect his jubilance. A silent victory for Eden’s Gate.

One word, his favorite, would seal his fate before he was even aware of the danger he was putting himself in. Because Rook was a lot of things, but a traitor wasn’t one of them. So that word would fall from parted lips in a dimly lit bunker that smelled of blood and death, reminding her of vengeance, and she would say that single word that he's heard many times from repentant sinners, she’d say it gladly with a heavy heart, because two months from now she’d be the one striking this man down with hands curled tight around his windpipe when he laid beside her, arm tossed over her stomach in an act of love he had always wanted.

She would try to feel no mercy as the life flickered out of his eyes, she’d shed a single tear right before the breath left him and there was no way John Seed could ever harm anyone ever again. Her hands would stay on his throat minutes after he had gone cold. Afraid to let go of one of the best things that happened to the both of them or was she only making sure he’d never be able to harm anyone again? Hours after his  death murder she’d have his key around her own neck, reminiscent of those days where he sometimes trusted her enough to wear. In her head she’d have that voicemail ringing around her head that she recently heard right before she stepped out of his ranch for the last time.

_ "After all the atonements, all the confessions, all that you've done for me and Eden's Gate, it's not enough... Is it, John? Cast away your past, you need to open up your heart, you need to see that there is more love all around you. All the pain and suffering you spread will not help us in the long run. These actions will only feed the sin inside you. It will grow stronger, it will convince you to do wicked things. Those you scar too deeply, they will heal. They will become carriers of your sin. They will spread that sin to others.  I've seen your death in a vision. You're destined to be slayed by your own sin. It will come back around in a new form, it's only a matter of when. I've seen you die young, I've seen you die old. The difference between the two outcomes is how much love you let into your heart. I pray that you hear these words before it's too late. I want to see you become an old man in the paradise we've prepared for. I love you, brother... I love you." _

John let love in, he did love her. She knew that, was witness to it every day when she woke up and he was quick to follow with a tired smile on his face, disbelief in his eyes, waiting for this dream to end, not yet believing she was his. She ripped life out of his hands without mercy.

Maybe Joseph was right, in a way, the sin casted down on her, the one she had never truly experienced before John waltzed into her life, the man who had a penchant for bloodshed, was wrath. He projected that sin upon her until it was coursing through her veins and it was all she would ever know. His own sin came around to bite him. So when he smiled at his brother so wide that first night of her attending a sermon preaching on the end of times, that glint in his eyes was clear and bright, as if to show Joseph the evidence that he would be fine, that he would walk into Eden…but it was already too late. Because wrath was forced upon her and it festered inside her until it bubbled up and needed somewhere to go. She found that outlet in John. Stopped that blooming man who was going through a new chapter where violence wasn’t always the answer.

 

She ruined that. She destroyed a family. Tore their hearts into pieces all because of her wrath. The wrath that was John’s closest friend now lives on in her. She knows that now. And she’s so, so sorry.


	29. Jacob/Rook Latenight Guest

Jacob squinted in the dark. Eyes adjusting as the moonlight from an open window he was sure he closed, spilled in on his bed. Revealing a shape beneath the blankets that was too human for him to relax. His hand dropped to his knife, unsheathing it from its holster with finesse as he inched closer.

Ever quiet. Moving like a hunter knew how.

He stopped right at the edge, palm pressing into the mattress as his knife moved under the neck of whoever was stupid enough to invade his space without a heads up. It was too small to be Joseph, or even John for that matter. There was a dip where the stranger’s hips were. A curve that looked feminine. He only hoped he wasn’t about to wake Faith up with a blade to her neck.

With a gentle nudge, pushing the knife ever so lightly, he tipped them over on their side. Immediately taking a step back and switching out to his gun. “Fuckin hell.”

He stood like that for what must’ve been a whole minute. Waiting. Because the deputy was smart and she wouldn’t just fall asleep in his bed without knowing it was his room. She was calculated, not as good as his hunters. But among the best, enough for him to take an interest at least.

Her chest was rising and falling evenly. She was squirming minutely in his bed, as if aware someone was disturbing her sleep. She looked....soft. Not like a killer at this moment. If Jacob wanted to fool himself he could pretend she fell asleep waiting up for him, he could shape a life around the domesticity he never had.

And that thought had him releasing a shaky breath, it was dangerous to let his mind wander in that direction.

Jacob laid his weapons down in a safe behind his desk, storing Rook’s own weapons in there too. He wasn’t stupid, didn’t need her waking up and being dumb enough to try to shoot him. A small part of his brain was screaming at him, curious as to why he took such care in placing her worn bag away when she should be on her way downstairs to be thrown in a cage. He shouldn’t be shucking off his jacket and switching out his jeans for sweatpants. That left him standing at the side of his bed like he was the intruder. Shifting his weight from foot to foot.

Maybe somewhere along the line he lost his mind.

She was warm, that’s the first thing he noted as he crawled in his bed. Careful hands moving slow as he pushed her to lie closer to the wall. The second thing he found a second later was that his bed wasn’t meant for two. Not when he left a huge gap between the two of them. So really it was only out of necessity that made him drag Rook in his personal space with her head buried in his neck. And he couldn’t control her when her arms suddenly strung around him. One looped around his neck the other splayed over his stomach.

He didn’t shut his eyes at first. Didn’t even make an effort to sleep. Just breathed. Taking in the moment because he can’t remember the last time he was lying next to a woman who was so adamant about being close to him.

Jacob cupped a hand at the back of her head, pulling her impossibly closer as he tried to sleep. Ignoring how her leg had snapped up to wrangle him in closer, heel pressing into his spine. An action that he didn’t think anyone would be capable of doing if they were sleeping. He could worry about that later though.


	30. John/Rook Boredom

She leaned further back in the chair, wood creaking as she rocked back on two legs. Dangerously close to falling. Though Rook was more concerned with the radio in her hands than falling back on her ass. 

There were more important things filling up her head. Such as the fact that she was so fucking bored. Lying low, flying under the radar before she got grabbed again by one of the Seeds and staying in Dutch’s bunker 24/7. Turns out it wasn’t much fun, even if the old veteran made fine company. It was too much of a deviation from what her life was on a day to day basis.

She was all for new discoveries, trying new things once because she was sure death was taunting her just around the corner, but this experience had her ready to pull her hair out. Maybe that’s why it suddenly seemed like such a good idea to grab her radio with the consideration to call one of the Seeds. 

She had options. Options were fun, more fun than counting bullets for the fifth time or listening to the dull Peggie chatter Dutch tapped into. So yes, the prospect of choices had her sinking her teeth into her bottom lip in thought. 

Joseph was out almost immediately. Crossed out in red sharpie in the list floating through her head. She had a feeling that if she called so early in the morning that he’d find some way to spin their conversation towards the subject that her contacting him was a sign from God and not just her running in the dark clueless. He had a knack for that, something innate built into him urging him on to preach to even those who wouldn’t listen. Turns out those talks weren’t so fun would, leaving her with a headache and plain annoyed.

Faith was a no. The last thing Rook needed was for the girl to start praising The Father, speaking of how Rook could be rehabilitated and should walk the path. She could see the light and emerge anew if she’d just let Joseph in her life. It was a lecture she didn’t need. 

Calling Jacob was just plain stupid on her part. It’d tempt him if she said the wrong word with the wrong tone. Pulling on his chain wouldn’t end well for her, he wasn’t the kind of guy you could joke around with without ending up with a few broken bones.

“John you awake?” 

Her head tipped back, eyes shut against the bunker lights. 

“Jooohhhnn.”

Nothing. Only a crackling connection that wasn’t too strong. She let her huff of disappointment ring through the radio.

“Oh John?” Rook sang, verging too close to the literal song about Hope County’s infamous baptist.

She rocked back and forth on the wooden chair. Eyes half lidded and lips pursed. She had nowhere to be, nothing to do. Really she could stay up all night waiting for him to answer her. Her mouth opened, ready to consider her next words, her radio crackling to life beat her to it. “Deputy.” Curt. Short. John sounding tired and displeased. “Calling to confess I hope.”

“And if I was?” She wasn’t. But she imagined the best time would be over a radio where his knives couldn’t get to her. 

John hummed, a shuffling noise coming out clear, almost on purpose as she imagined him adjusting his position. Falling into character despite not having an audience. “I’d be more than grateful.”

“Why’s that?” She let all four of the chair’s legs fall to the bunker floor with a thud. 

“I’m a baptist, any confession given to me is sacred and welcome.”

Rook laughed, thumb pressed tight on the red button on the side of the radio, making sure John could hear her amusement. “Bullshit.” She distantly recalled how John looked after he dunked her in a pond contaminated with bliss, holding her under for a little too long and taking out his pent up anger on her while she was defenseless. Joseph had held them close in that moment, with a gentle hand rubbing at the nape of his neck tenderly with guiding words. She remembered what he said even through her drugged haze, probably because it was the only time she’s seen John so vulnerable. “You’re scared, afraid you won’t make it to the promise land. That’s why you’d be grateful to take my confession.”

He hid his surprise with a low growl before speaking. “Did you call only to argue about the beliefs of Eden’s Gate?” He sighed, blowing out air roughly like a bull. “I’m too tired, no, too stressed, to debate religion. You wouldn’t listen anyway Wrathy.” He sounded worn out, and didn’t seem to bother hiding that fact. Showing drawn out sighs and breaths of discontentment like they were old pals. It wasn’t what she signed up for. 

It’s not like she was stuck, she could easily put down her radio, make sure it was turned off so no one could bother her for the rest of the day and crawl into bed since she knew it was an ungodly hour in the morning. They’d both forget this ever happened and be back at each other's throats a week from now. Real easy. 

“Rook?” 

“I’m not actually confessing.”

He chuckled at her words, “Figured that. But while we’re here, while I’ve managed to hold your attention, can I confess something to you? Would that--” He paused, and she was sure she heard him curse, “Would that be okay? If this isn’t going to work the other way around.”

She stood, chair creaking and hand tight around her radio, eyes falling on a cabinet she was well aware had a stash of dwindling liquor. She hesitated for half a second in grabbing the neck of the closest bottle when she peered inside, settling bank on the mattress she claimed as her own. Doing this drunk might’ve been a sin, not like she was about to leak that to John who no doubt would have a fit. “Go for it.” Because she was bored and apparently that made her brain malfunction.

“You’re right.” It was just the first sip, a rushing splash of wine down her throat, not nearly enough to impair her senses, and yet she struggled for half a second to see what he was talking about. “You’re right. I’m scared. Everyday I wake up knowing that my ticket to entering Eden’s Gate with my family is out there causing damage and refusing to cooperate.” He hissed out a pained breath by the time she took a fourth sip. “Do you know what it’s like to have your salvation dangling above your head? And I’m running around like a puppy trying to chase it.” He paused, breathing in deep, “Well? Do you?”

She considered his words. Weighed them out as she wiggled the bottle of wine in her grasp. “Nope. Can’t say I do. No wonder your not much fun, you must be stressed.” Meant as a joke yet landing flat from the way he laughed sarcastically. 

“You’ve no idea. You can’t understand how selfish you’re being.”

Rook winced. She absolutely did not feel bad for him. She didn’t care that he sounded broken and genuinely afraid for his future. She opened her mouth, sucking in air to decide what to say. “That’s...that’s quite the confession. I think I can help.”

“You don’t know the meaning of the word!” Had she said the same thing to him in the same tone he would’ve accused her of wrath. She was bigger than that. She bit her tongue and continued on like he hadn’t spoken. 

“Look.” She sat up a little taller from how she had slumped over into the pillows. “I think we can come to an agreement, something that’d make us both happy.” Rook ignored his terse, “I doubt that,” mostly because he was right and she’d worry about the impending guilt later. 

“Come find me John, we’ll play a little game of hide and seek.”

“And if I find you? If I win?” Not a yes, but there was a pique of curiosity in his voice, a twinge away from sadness and that was her main goal, to deviate from the ledge he pushed them to when he took this further than she wanted. 

“Me. You’re golden ticket if I’m following his euphemism correctly.”

The radio clicking off was enough of an answer. Cat and mouse should be fun. Especially when she had zero intentions of coming up out of the bunker which she found herself so cozy in. She’d be content to hear his ramblings over the next few days, it’d stave off her boredom just fine. 

Not like John Seed could get any crazier, with her luck it’d make him unhinged enough that he’d be that much easier to take down when the time came for that.


	31. PolySeed/Rook Protection

It was dangerous and stupid and she was pretty sure that running around 24/7 trying not to get gunned down was wearing on her sanity. Tugging at her mind until it was frayed and so beyond repair that she didn’t reconsider her decision.

Once the idea popped in her head after a close call that left her trembling in the woods, she didn’t question it. For the first time since she entered Hope County she was sure Joseph was right all along about her being here, it wasn’t a mistake. Since that idea pinging around her skull seemed like God was giving her a shove in the right direction. Nudging her along with the helpful reminder that it wasn’t only her life at risk here. That it may very well be possible to be a mother and a soldier, but she wasnt prioritizing correctly. And that might be the death of her and the baby swaddled up tight to fend off the mountain chill.

She was getting sloppy, slower too. Her mind wasn’t clear enough to be making the quick snapping decisions needed in a war. 

The Seeds were the ones who actually seemed invested in the kid they’ve only heard whispers about. They never threatened her little girl. Hadn’t even used her child against her. John even appeared interested, face softening when Rook confirmed that, yes, she did have baby locked away somewhere safe. Joseph didn’t spout somebullshit about fate or God bringing him a wife and child to replace his lost family. And Jacob didn’t tease her, didn’t reprimand her or call her child the week infant that she was. 

What she did hear regarding someone else’s thoughts on the matter about her dwindling safety situation, it came from a crackling radio transmission late at night when she was curled up on the forest floor thinking about what her next action should be in order to avoid getting a bullet to the head. Joseph’s soft voice was so light she had almost thought it was the bliss floating up off of the nearby river. But nope, her radio crackled violently with a clear message. 

“I’m not sure if it’s your pride or fear that keeps you from letting me offer any kind of assistance I can, child.” A few stints of silence followed. A long enough pause to make her think that was all he had to say. Then he was talking again, making her stomach churn. “I’m not asking for your baby, I’d never tear a family apart. Not when I know too well what that can be like. And I’m not asking for you to run to me or my siblings in order to find someplace safe. But if you need anything, blankets, a crib, formula, a pacifier for whenever they need. I’m not sure how old they are…” another pause, though with the radio now pressed close to her ear because he was speaking so soft, she could hear his breathing. Heavy and sporadic before he went on. “Or maybe toys? Surely you don’t want to deprive your child. At least consider it, know I won’t hurt you if you come to me in need.”

That was two months ago. Fresh when the rumors sprouted around the county, flowing like wildfire, with the deputy being out of commission for so long because she had her own spawn running around. Her daughter was newly born at the time. Couldn’t even hold her head up. Things weren’t getting better. She was older, but not by much. 

She hadn’t heard anything since that night. Had gotten the one call from Joseph and then nothing. Radio silence. It made her wonder if the offer was no longer open. Maybe the deal was gone, closed to her and her child. It was hard to stomach, because Dutch was dealing with Peggies left and right, battling to stay alive and keep the comms open for the resistance; he didn’t have time to watch her kid. Christ, no one could fit in time to protect her child. 

She made the decision easy for everyone. Rook took that burden from everyone and ascended into the mountains in hopes of finding any cabins that were far enough off the grid to ensure semi safety. 

Wherever she went, someone was ready to shoot her dead, lurking around the corner. And if Eden’s Gate didn’t kill them, then the lack of supplies would. 2 months ago she had all those necessities Joseph listed off in her ear in the dead of night. Not anymore though. Formula was gone and breastfeeding was tough when she couldn’t find a safe place to let her guard down, not to mention that her own body was run ragged, not nearly healthy enough to be lactating. The blanket swaddling her daughter was the same one she used when she was first born. It was ratty and torn, not doing much to help with the wind. 

She was stuck. Not left with much of a choice.

Finding herself knocking on the doors of the church that Eden’s Gate had claimed as their own had been so much easier after those thoughts settled in. The wailing child in her arms swayed her more than any bullet ever had.

And maybe it was pride that stopped her in her tracks all those months ago. Because now she stood with hunched shoulders and a glint of hesitation in her eyes when the large doors swung open gracefully and Joseph appeared instantly, smiling in greeting. He wasn’t smug, nothing close to that. Such a feeling was beyond his reach. It was more pitying if anything. Seeing that look almost made her run if not for his grip on her arm. Gentle, sure. But there was something else there in his fingers that made her shudder. There was the power to kill, the power to stop her if her shoes even shifted in any direction that wasn’t forward into the sweltering heat of his church. 

“You’re taking me up on my offer than? Looking for temporary solace? Or perhaps something more, maybe a home?” His head was tipped down, not bothering to mention his family was holed up in that forsaken church with him. He walked her inside with this knowledge and was asking her questions like he was unaware that her mind was frazzled and already jumping into high gear. 

“It’s understandable. Only a matter of time.” Said so matter of factly that she shuddered. Though she didn’t dare blame it on how Joseph stepped away from her, stealing back his body heat when he joined his brothers and sister where they stood gathered at the front stage. “I knew you’d come.”

“Saw it in a vision?” Rook closed her eyes a second later at her own words. Stupid. So fucking stupid. Make fun of a man who was backed up by so many willing to slaughter anyone who even looked at his funny. “Sorry I shouldn’t—“

Joseph smiled tight in understanding as John laughed out a light, “It’s fine.” He tipped his blue glasses out of his face, angling them on his head, squashing his hair down in the process. “I think we can let that slide.” His eyes slipped down, away from her face and to the bundle in her arms. 

John took careful steps towards her, passing his brother easily, bumping shoulders in the process, and glancing back at him, as if he could find an answer in Joseph’s eyes that this was a good idea. 

“After all, you’re not wrong.” Once again taking a glance back at his brothers and sister. “He told us he knew you’d come eventually. And here you are.” His hands spread wide, standing in front of her now, fingers splayed, coming down slowly as not to spook her. Landing on her shoulders and squeezing once.

He focused on her face before slipping down for the second time. “This is her? Your child?” He smiled wide, a gentle chuckle leaving his lips. “She’s tiny.” He leaned in close, close enough for Rook to smell the cologne he was wearing along with the twinge of blood that must’ve followed him everywhere, embedded in his skin, running as deep as the sins cut into tender flesh.

It was like that the first time she mentioned she even had a kid, his whole demeanor changed. Being the youngest she imagined he had never had to care for anyone. It was always the other way around. She figured he lacked that ability, and yet he was softer around her baby, as if he had been rearing children all his life and this was just second nature. 

“Her name?” Coming from Joseph who was standing closer to Jacob, a hand on the nape of his neck. “She’s a few months old no? I’m assuming you’ve named her.”

Rook nodded. Shifting on her feet, eyes watching the motion of John’s hands, how his fingers were twitching, bundled up near his chest. Wanting to touch. “She’s got a name, yeah.”

John’s gaze bounced up to her. Lips tipping into an encouraging smile, one she dared to believe was used to manipulate thousands before her. One hand of his finally found a home in the crook of her neck, the other parted the tattered blanket her daughter was swaddled in, revealing her face to him. 

“It’s Alise. Her name’s Alise.”

That opened up something inside all the men that made her scared. She took in their facial expressions once the word slipped free of her lips before she could stop it. She walked into their den and showed a softer side of herself never meant to see the light of day. Rook tried to gauge how much danger she just put herself in. 

As it turns out, not too much. Not nearly what she was expecting. 

They took care of her. They were soft and gentle in a way she never thought possible.

They kept her safe, just like promised. Holed her up all the way in some desolate spot on the edge of Hope County, backed up with a mountain range. A tiny cabin, more akin to a shack, left for herself and her growing child. With the added condition of the all too frequent visits from one of the Seed brothers. 

John, by far, would make the trek out to her the most. As if he wasn’t busy himself. He had confessions and baptisms that he spoke about as soon as he walked in the door. Shaking snowflakes off his jacket as it neared later in the year and he toed off his shoes, slick with slush and mud. “I can’t stay for long, I’m only here for a little while.” The reasons would change. He had to meet up with Jacob or Joseph, whether for business or familial reasons she didn’t care to ask just yet, or he had some innocent souls to lead into Eden’s Gate, or a resident’s house to visit whose homeowners weren’t ready to give up their land to some man proclaiming the end of the world. Whatever bullshit he fed to her that day never seemed to matter in the long run to him.

He’d stay for way too long each time, she could tell that was the case when every week, without fail, he’d practically jump at seeing the time and rush out the door with swift apologies tripping up his normally practiced tongue.

But when he was there, in the little bubble that was her new cabin life, it’s like the rest of the world melted away from him. He’d hover over her shoulder when Alise was in her arms, offering to help in any way she might let him. Eyes a constant beacon of hope for her one day trusting him.

One day she surprised them both with placing her child in his grasp. She didn’t want to take credit for changing him in putting such trust in him, but from the way Jacob spoke in the few times he was visiting, he’d thank her. Those weren’t his exact words, but it was implied.

“John speaks a lot about you. About your cub too.” She’d laugh at the nickname. As if her and her daughter were wolves, though she let it slide. He was offering too much help for her to anger him. He was the one to rock Alise to sleep when Rook was on the verge of a mental breakdown when listening to the crying tore at her mind. He’d warm her bottle and do a strange job of being caring with the extra blankets and jackets he bought the both of them. Provided John hadn’t already gotten for them first.

Rook brought it up to John; she found she wasn’t afraid of him as she once used to be. Not when he sat on the floor hunched over and cooing at Alise with a stuffed toy held in his hands.

His head tipped up at her at the question, eyes narrow and suspicious for a minute before sighing, muscles going lax. “Jacob raised Joseph and I. He took care of us ever since we were infants. He changed our diapers, fed us, bathed us. We survived because of him.” His eyes grew strong, a fire behind them as he nodded once in quick affirmation when his gaze pivoted to the floor. “Out of any of us, I believe Jacob would make the best father, he could do it, despite what he likes to think.” And that’s where John left the conversation before leaving, eyes lingering on her for a while longer before disappearing out the door.

Joseph came less than his two brothers. A man who directed a flock of hundreds was busy she guessed. Not like she was complaining, out of the three he was the one she was wary of most. She’s seen Jacob’s and John’s caring side, not beaten out of them completely from their youth, thank God. 

Joseph had yet to win over her favor. 

He was calm and cool, he would never strike out against her or her child. That’s not what her fear revolved around. It was more the fact that if anyone wanted to warp Alise’s frame of mind around their fucked up morals, it would be him. They all could try, but Joseph would be the one to succeed. 

From a mile away anyone could see John and Jacob were bad news. That all they spoke were lies, anyway, it’d be hard to dispute such a claim once you've come into contact with them. Joseph was different. He was a snake. Hiding under bible verses and the Voice in his head. He spoke about morals he didn’t have and rules no Christian would adhere to. Joseph had the power to manipulate, he makes everything he does seem reasonable if you listen to him for long enough.

And that made her tremble every time he entered her home and sat by her side, a touch too close as he hovered over her shoulder. The same as John, but there was an aura around him that didn’t quite follow the youngest.

Her coldness didn’t deter him. She didn’t think anything could. Not when he preached to her how this new child was a sign from God, meant to be a figure head of the collapse and a paragon for hope and peace in Eden’s Gate. Rook kicked him out after that, not willing to let him go any further when she knew it was a topic weighing heavy on his mind. Alise couldn’t speak yet, she couldn’t understand the meaning of what Joseph was saying at the time, but that shit wasn’t going to stand, not when Rook had plans on being out of this shithole when Alise was old enough to run and recognize the danger around her. That, and after Jacob taught her to become a marksman like he so promised. 

Each passing day was a step closer to leaving. She walked into this mess willingly, she could stroll right back out. And if Eden’s Gate fought back against such a thing, she had no qualms about shedding blood with her daughter standing beside her, making her a proud mother.


	32. Joseph/Rook Interruptions

“I’m going to harm him.” Joseph’s fingers bit into her waist, nails digging into soft flesh as he rolled his hips up. Moving a tad too harshly in a rare show of anger for the man outside the door who refused to be ignored. Not that she blamed him, it was hard enough to focus knowing anyone could walk in at any given moment, harder still with the incessant knocking on Joseph’s door.

“I’ll hold you down.” Technically speaking she could, she was on top this time, and enjoying how much deeper he was that way, stroking nerves unused to being touched. She patted at his chest like he was a spooked animal and not a man with the strength to toss her off of him and deal with the nuisance making the cords in his neck stand out. 

A series of bangs, a fist curled to slam into wood, made Rook jump and Joseph curse under his breath. Something less PG than normal. 

“Down boy.” Rook joked, frowning when he only sighed through clenched teeth. “Ignore it.” She leaned down, pressing their bodies together to whisper in his ear. She cupped his cheek, thumbs rubbing at his skin as she kissed him. Easing away his frayed nerves until she felt him relax under her. 

It was easy after that. She fell into him. Allowed him to wrap an arm around her middle so she couldn’t move away from him. He thrusted up, tugging her down and closer in the process. 

A mewl fell from her lips, loud to Joseph but not to whoever knocked on the door again. 

Joseph groaned out loud. Legs kicking animatedly. Rucking up the blankets as Rook sat up when his arm fell limply off her sweaty body. Her hands smoothed across his chest. Running over scars and tattoos. “Should we just let him in?”

“We’re busy. I told him I would be busy, that I needed a day to myself.” There wasn’t just anger there this time. No, it was something more. Something that made her chest ache. He looked so worn out, so tired and in need of a day that wasn’t filled with Eden’s Gate drama. “They will be able to last one day without me, I’m sure.”

“Maybe it’s important.”

He whined. Joseph fucking Seed tipped his head back and whined at her words, eyes slamming shut tight. “With John...it will be…” He grunted, searching for kind words, “important to him, yes, probably blown out of proportion though.” 

Rook frowned, eyes flicking between him and the door. The unlocked door. If he was desperate enough he could come in. He just didn’t have the foresight to try the door knob. “I can take your mind off it.” She grinded down on him a little harder, his hands tightening around her waist made her stop. 

“I’m not exactly aroused with my brother standing outside the door.” And she could feel it, he was growing soft inside her. Not the most pleasant feeling. 

Another knock. “I need you! Fucking open the door!” 

Joseph snarled. Teeth bared as he pulled her in close again. Hips jumping off of the mattress. “Let’s let him in them if he’s so eager.” She mumbled when she felt the sporadic beat of his heart under her fingertips.

He acted as if he hadn’t heard her, not willing to go that far. Shoving down his wrath and switching their roles quick as he flipped them around. Making her lie flat on her back as he slotted in between her splayed legs that wrapped wide around his waist. 

“I know your mad—“

“More than mad.” He confirmed. Something different in his eyes and voice then she’s ever witnessed. It was hotter than it had any right to be. Seeing such a calm pious preacher like himself become unwound before her.

He drove himself in deeper as he sank closer. Hips flush against hers as he grabbed her legs and tossed them over his shoulders. He moved easily, making obscene noises that filled the room. “Is it urgent John? Did you need me?” Joseph didn’t look back at the door as he asked, keeping his eyes on her.

“Of course I fucking need you! Or else I wouldn’t be standing out here for thirty minutes.” 

She reached up, looping arms around his neck to whisper in his ear. “Let him in.” Let your anger show for once. They’d atone later, her more than him when she admitted to letting her wrath infect The Father. 

Joseph acquiesced though, smiling with something bordering on vehemence when he gave the go ahead to his little brother. 

The yelp that followed was worth it. A slew of curse words coming after the annoyed “about time,” he had the audacity to say before realizing the scene he walked in on. Bastard deserved it for all she cared. 

As much as Joseph tried to keep her covered, not willing to give his brother a show, she could see a sliver of him over Joseph’s shoulder. Saw how he was hiding his face in the crook of his elbow, cheeks flushed from what little she could make out from her angle pinned beneath Joseph.

“What did you need?” Still not calm, laced with a twinge of annoyance and anger as he glanced back at John.

“You know what,” he held his hands up, eyes pointed down at the floor as he back up slowly. “No, no I’ll wait. Never mind.”

Joseph rolled his hips slow, making her groan despite the circumstances. “Look at me when you speak John.” 

She hid her laughter with a cough. He was fucking with him. And she was glad she was here for it. Glad she could see John in a position of complete awkwardness where he didn’t appear confident for once in his life. 

He was standing at the doorway, half turned, an animal ready to bolt. “I’d really rather not. It’s not important.”

“Seemed pretty important a minute ago. You could’ve waited. But you need me now, you kept knocking.”

John had already closed the door before Joseph could finfish speaking. Slamming it rough enough to make her cringe as he shouted behind the wood, “Lesson learned Joe, won’t bother you again.”

Rook finally let herself laugh. Catching Joseph seemingly off guard as he glanced down at her, eyes softening to see her loose and ready for him. 

“Sorry for that. Where were we darling?”

“I believe,” she pulled him in closer, kissing his forehead between his scrunched brow to erase the last of his annoyance, “you were trying to fuck me, make me forget there’s a world outside to return to.”

“Yes,” He braced his forearms on either side of her head as he sunk deeper, “That was the plan. And I wouldn’t want to keep you bereft would I?”


	33. John/Rook Not So Truthful

“You knew.”

John leaned in closer, nose brushing her skin, rubbing along her soulmark. The ones that held a scratchy set of words that related so closely to John that anyone would be a fool if they thought otherwise. A series of phrases that the baptist was known for. Reminding her to say yes, to confess. 

She saw it, read those words for days. Confused and excited all at once for what kind of soulmate she would find who preached such values. She didn’t even have to meet John Seed in person for it to sink it. She had a hunch reading through the notes Dutch had strung up, rode it off as a coincidence, nothing more. Then she drove through his valley and couldn't help but slow down her steps when she came across another billboard proclaiming his doctrine. The huge YES sign on the horizon really sealed the deal.

Rook tried to avoid him after she learned who he was, for some time she questioned if he knew too. Though that was before her baptism. Before she saw him and got the impression that he was the kind of man who didn’t like to share, who didn’t take refusals very well. Even if that sharing was as simple as others being around what he claimed was his. If he had known then and there with her standing before him in bliss filled water, he would’ve done something about it. 

Now with the look of anger over his face...he couldn’t have been aware. He never had the smallest of an inkling of who she might be to him. 

And now with her soulmark bared to him, hidden in such an intimate place with his scruffy cheek rubbing against it, she couldn’t exactly tell him he was wrong. 

“You knew and you didn’t tell me.” An accusation that made her wince when he lifted his head and she found no anger as per his usual. It was instead an awful gut wrenching sadness. This deep underlying hurt that has been formed over the course of his entire life, with no respite from all the world's bullshit. She was supposed to save him, it was her duty as his soulmate. And it broke her in strange ways she couldn’t comprehend with how that thought stung her. “Do you do this on purpose?” When she stayed silent he breathed out an angry sigh, “How you hurt me the way you do, Is that done on purpose?”

John was literally shaking with anger. Fingers twitching, jumping around to brush along her skin and landing to cradle her head. Tipping it up as he stood. “Look what you’ve done to me. You’ve made my life hell, you made me hate myself, doubt God too.”

Rook sucked in a breath. “Sorry.”

He laughed. Clear and loud. Piercing the air and making her jump. “Sorry doesn’t fix things. It doesn’t amend your sins.” He broke free from her, turning his back with hands laced behind him. “I can fix that those, everything can be forgiven. It will hurt; and it won’t be easy. But it can be done. You will be scrubbed clean and you will endure hell just as I’ve done until you understand the pain your soulmate has gone through in order to have you. That’s a promise.”


	34. Joseph/Rook Sneaking Around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any requests? Their always open!

The smell of him was the first thing that hit her. Invading her senses in the best way possible, enveloping her until she felt like she was drowning. Next came the sound of him, softly padding in the house. Harsh steps clicking through the hall that were soon swapped for socked feet as he wandered further inside. Pushing his scent her way until she deigned to do the same.

Their routine never changed. That fact would be comforting if not for the lingering sensation twirling in her gut reminding her that this was wrong. That sneaking around behind the backs of so many that she still considered her friends was the worse thing to do, the worst kind of betrayal when the man she waited to see every night was referred to as The Father by the masses.

And yet the pull he had on her was so strong that even if she wanted to she didn’t think she’d be able to break free of him.

“You’re home early.” Mumbled with her back turned to him. Eyes locked firmly outside the window half covered by pastel curtains. Hands locking together in front of her to avoid the insane urge in her brain that a proper omega would greet her alpha with a keen in her throat and a kiss to follow.

_ Her alpha.  _ It was still so fucking surreal.

Not like he’d let her forget. Each night before she snuck back to the side where she belonged, he’d press  sharp teeth onto her neck, willing it into her mind and at the same time forcing her to buy shirts with higher collars en masse.

“I tried, didn’t want to miss you.” She winced, scent turning sour around them as she felt stabs of guilt that made her stomach curl into knots. They weren’t in a real relationship, she couldn’t wait around forever.

They were lucky this time.

“Sorry.”

He sighed. Drawn out and so soft she barely heard it. Her eyes dipped shut. Blocking out the world before Joseph drew her back in by literally drawing her in close. He tugged her until her back slammed into his chest. “Sorry for what? I can’t be mad when I’m given this time with you, no matter how short it turns out to be. I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time.”

She glanced over her shoulder, a hand on his jaw, rubbing back and forth. Stroking at his stubble as she trailed fingers down his neck.

He leaned in just a little bit closer, brushing over her nose in an act that was intimate, maybe a tad too much for them. It was fine for other alphas and omegas, mated alphas and omegas. They weren’t that close.

His lips were on her, brushing over her own and teasing his teeth along her flesh. There was never any harsh bites with him, she didn’t have to worry.

Such a strange alpha.

“Can I try something with you?”

He pulled back, eyes shining. His head tipped to the left, reaching down to grab at a hand she still hand at her front, he raised it to his lips. Kissing her knuckles and waiting for her to continue. “Anything.”

That’s where that left them, with him following willingly to their too small bathroom he deemed just enough for him and her. Joseph went down easy when her hands met his bare shoulders and she pushed him, easing him back to sit on the closed toilet seat. “You trust me too much.” She noted, cupping his jaw, thumbs digging into his scent gland. Rubbing the flesh there until she caught how he scent became sharper, highlighting the smooth floral points that surrounded her.

“Never met an alpha who’d give this much power, who’d let an omega on top.” Normally that’d be an insult. It’d imply calling someone defective, that somewhere along the lines their biology fucked up. She knew he didn’t mind, she’s said it before, of course that particular moment involved more apologies on her part. With Joseph laughing, a hand on her forearm and telling her how he has to be different, that’s why he was chosen. Why he’s the one leading the masses.

If anything he took it as a compliment, a way to solidify the fact that he was really a prophet doing the lord's work.

“I never mind switching roles. You look beautiful given so much power.” He whispered out gently as she straddled him. Though there was confusion in his eyes. Curious as to where she was taking this. Eyes skipping over her face and out towards her hand when she popped open the cabinet below the sink.

She fished around, thankful for Joseph’s hand on her hip keeping her from falling off his lap. Her fingers locked around a little black box, giving out a soft  _ aha _ upon finding what she had been looking for.

Rook righted herself, cradling the case against her chest before setting it out on the ledge of the sink. “You’re beard is growing wild.”

“I thought you liked it.” He mumbled, leaning back and taking her in. There was mischief in his eyes. He was thinking of something else entirely. She could play along.

“Yes. But when we’re in bed and you’re between my thighs, I don’t like it.” She caught the look of concern on his face and laughed. “I’m not cutting it all off. Just a trim.”

He nodded. A quick jerk of his head as he squirmed to sit up a little taller. Pulling her in close as she laid out her razor of choice. A fancy electrified thing she assumed was a present from John. “What? Would I not like you without a beard.”

“No, I really don’t think you would.”

Rook laughed, bright and loud in their confined space as she leaned down to kiss him, face scrunching up as his facial hair scratched at her skin. She broke the kiss with a pat to his cheek.

“We’re not doing that again until this is taken care of.”

He simply smiled. Fingers tapping at her hip bones. “We can’t have that, can we omega? Go ahead, I’ll let the artist work.” He reached up, a hand holding the back of her head. “And if you make me look like a young boy again with the inability to grow a beard, you won’t see me until it grows back Child.”

 


	35. John/Rook A Time For Being Gentle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Eve to everyone to celebrate! Hope you all have a wonderful day, stay safe. And for those of you who don't celebrate, have an amazing winter break and weekend!

His hands were warm in the very least, creating goosebumps along her exposed skin when a gust a air blew in from an open window. His fingers, dark tattoos catching on the moonlight, cupped her neck and ran down her shoulders, shedding her clothes in the process. Peeling off her shirt to hold her waist, dropping to his knees a moment later to kiss her stomach. 

John’s eyes sparkled when he looked up at her. “We still good deputy?”

She breathed in deep, head lolling forward as she shivered. “Yes.” 

That was all he needed to continue. To move his hands downward to her jeans, tugging at her belt carefully and letting it drop to the floor with a metal clink that sounded through the room. He mouthed at her waistline, slipping down her jeans until they pooled at her ankles. “Perfect.” John mumbled, hands moving up and down her thighs with reverence.

Rook shifted, bouncing on her feet as he stood, only a few inches taller than her, but looking down on her all the same. He drew her in close with an arm around her middle. John moved towards her neck, tipping her head back to nip and suck at her skin. Easing her back in the process until the backs of her knees hit the bed. 

He was unusually gentle when he laid her down. Crawling up the mattress, way too clothed for what she preferred, boxing her in with forearms flanking either side of her head. “Really, look at you. The epitome of what I’ve always wanted.” His fingers grazed her cheek, tracing along scars and bruises given to her over her time spent at war. She was beautiful despite that. And John intended to show her as much.

John lifted himself up on his knees, seated on her hips with legs spread wide to accommodate her body. There, with her staring up at him with pupils blown wide, he began to undress. Moving tantalizingly slow. Popping the buttons off his vest with downcast eyes and slipping it off his shoulders, tossing it on the ground carelessly. 

Rook’s hands were trapped, lying flat on the bed and stuck with how John sat on her. Her fingers clenched on the blankets in time with how John started to undo his blue button up. Revealing more skin than he previously had with his normal get up. 

“Are we getting impatient?” 

She huffed a laugh. Head tipped back to bare her throat to him. “Course not,” Her eyes held strong on his own, wavering only once to drop to his chest. “I can wait.” She couldn’t really, her wiggling hips said that much.

He nodded, leaning into her again until their chests were flush. He reached behind her with skill, propping her up just enough to snap the clasp of her bra undone. The fabric slid off easily in his hands. Showing off breasts that pooled out and filled his hands when he grabbed heated flesh. 

Ever so subtly his hips rolled down, making her breath catch when she felt his hardness rub along her cunt. He kissed her then, rolling her nipples into hardened perky nub as his tongue invaded her mouth. Licking ravishly and sucking on her bottom lip with fervor. 

He snaked a hand in between them, fiddling with his belt buckle until it loosened around his waist. His jeans and boxers were kicked off in the first show of awkwardness of the night. It eased the tension, making her laugh when he crowded her space again and she could hold him close. He fit between her legs, which wasted no time wrapping around his slim hips. 

“Tell me you want me Rook.” He dropped his head down to her shoulder. “Tell me you want this, that you need this like I do.” She sucked in a breath. His insecurities sneaking into the night in need of reassurance.

She grabbed the nape of his neck, pulling him up to kiss him softly. Whispering into his mouth until he relaxed against her. 

His eyes shone bright again, filling with a hope and easiness she hasn’t seen in a while. “How about,” John kissed her neck, fingers teasing at the waistband of her panties, “Can these come off?”

“Go for it Johnny.” 

She missed the roll of his eyes when his head dropped down to do exactly as he said. He peeled off her underwear, kissing over her cunt with the tip of his tongue dipping between her folds for only a second. The touch had her whining all the same, no matter how brief it was. 

He spread her legs, hands holding onto her thighs as he exposed her to his eyes. He shifted closer to her, reveling in the warmth she gave off before grabbing hold of his cock to rest along her cunt. 

He slipped his tip in her entrance. Letting her walls pull and suck, showing him how eager she was. John pressed an inch further inside her when he covered her body with her own. Bearing down on top of her to press kisses against her lips. It was a soft gesture to ease the pain she must’ve felt as he rocked into her, forcing himself deeper into her. 

Rook clawed down his back, grabbing onto his shoulders for leverage as she pressed up into him. Making his cock slide in to the hilt so their hips were pressed together. “Are you still good? Is--” He breathed in a shaky breath to stop from thrusting, “Is this okay?”

“You don’t need to treat me as if I’m gonna break. I’m not that fragile.” She laughed, stroking the side of his face, “We’ve fucked before.”

“I know.” He pushed into her, watching her face for the subtle shift of enjoyment and pleasure. “I know that dear, It doesn’t hurt to go slow for once.” His words were accentuated with another slow drag of his cock. Her pussy lips suckled with a wet noise to go along with it as he moved back inside with a whimper coming from her.

He kept that pace, with him working in and out of her, head resting between her breasts. His beard scratched at her skin, a feeling that was different than the heat coiling in her stomach that never seemed to reach its peak with how slow he was moving. Soft moans pulling from his lips as sweat dotted his upper lip.

He gave her nipple a parting kiss before moving up on his knees to pull her in closer by her hips. At that angle he reached a deeper spot inside her despite the slow push inside. 

There was a smile hanging on his face every time he made her squeal or beg. Hair hung in his eyes, this was taking a toll on him the same as her, it was evident in how he his thrusts stuttered and halted to keep from spilling inside her too soon. 

“You’ve always been so perfect to me.” He grabbed at her legs, hoisting them over his shoulders and giving her ankle a tender kiss as he sharply thrusted into her. The rhythm he set had Rook far gone, moaning each time he pushed back inside. Her hips were rising off the bed to meet him, urging him on to go faster, rougher. “Easy darling,” The chastisement made her cheeks pinken. “You’ll finish, I promise.” He tipped his head back when a shock of warmth ran up his core, “Just have patience.”

His speed increased minutely when his hand dropped down to spread her folds. Toying with her clit with a soft roll of his thumb. The calluses there made her already sensitive body squirm beneath him. “Come on dear, cum for me.” His own hips stuttered when she clenched around him, squeezing at his cock and spasming as she reached her peak. Her fluids leaked out, combined with his own, which filled her completely and made obscene noises fill the room with his last few pumps into her.

John didn’t pull out right away, instead opting to pull Rook in close and roll them over on their side. Yanking her leg to splay over his body when his head his the same pillow she was lying on. In that close proximity he pressed a final kiss to her lips, not getting much of a response when she was already falling asleep. 

“I love you Rook.”

A smile flitted over her face as she nuzzled into his neck, pressing a kiss to his throat. “Love you too.”


	36. John/Rook A Different Kind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to everyone! Have a wonderful day!

It had never crossed her mind that the Seeds would ever find out that she wasn’t Christian. Did it matter in the end? Sure, the whole point of a religious war was your beliefs, but this was different. They were a damn cult and Christian or not, you wouldn't side with them. It never even came up. Maybe once, a night with her and her favorite pyromaniac as they lounged on a patch of grass with beers in their hands and the scenery mingled with fire playing out in front of them. It was December, he was joking about how the Seeds’ holidays probably played out, which turned on her. Resulting in a light shrug on her part and a whisper of “I’m Jewish. Hanukkah’s more my thing.” It didn’t warrant any kind of memorable response on Sharky’s part, because why would it? Any one of her friends could find out and it wouldn't change a damn thing.

Now it mattered. John was staring her down, well, more like staring at her chest with a fire in his eyes that scared her. With shaking fingers he brushed over the tattoo that took up the patch of skin on her body that he meant for her sin to lie down at. The Star Of David, done beautifully in navy blue ink.

“You’re Jewish?”

Rook didn’t answer. Only searched his face. Found him non moving, fingers still lingering over her chest. 

“That’s a rhetorical question right?”

John shrugged. Not necessarily looking uncomfortable, only stumped. And she couldn’t blame him. She could only imagine the number of conversations the Seed family had around the dinner table about her being here was God’s will. Now it looked like their God had sent them someone who didn’t even practice their own faith. 

A believer in her own respect. Just not the one preferable to a group of cultists who preached Christianity. 

John blinked slow, rubbing at her skin like he could wear it away with a simple touch. As if it was a mere dirt smudge. “Yes. Yes that was rhetorical.” A pause as his tongue snaked out to brush at his lips. “Of course you’re Jewish.”

Rook’s mouth flapped open. Stayed that way for a beat too long as she tried to figure out whether to be offended or not. Maybe it was the tone of his voice. The way he enunciated the first two words, or perhaps it was how he chuckled foolishly and shook his head. 

“Of course…” she trailed off, hoping he’d pick it up and deign himself to explain further.

He stood, hands hanging limply by his side. “Yes of course.” He laughed again. Shoulders shaking as he did so, like this was really something to be amused about. “God sent you to us for a reason. We knew you were different. And this is just the beginning I bet.” He was more talking to himself. Eyes lost somewhere that wasn’t near her, wild with excitement and something deeper than that. Almost as if he was finally content. 

“It all makes sense.” John was in front of her again. Framing her body with his own. Caging her in and making her feel claustrophobic. He trailed his gaze across her face before drifting down to lay claim to her tattoo. “Can’t you see? My family and I have you, especially you, only you, because you’re different.” She kept silent, didn’t let him in on her inner thoughts that she would bet money on the fact that there were hundreds of other people in Hope County who weren’t Christians. “You are a nonbeliever. Someone that my family now has the duty of--

“I’ll fucking headbut you if you say that my purpose for being here is for you to change my religion.” There was a stint of silence before she continued, anger tipping over at the absurdity of this. “You can’t do that to people John, It’s not a sin.” The 6 pointed star throbbed dully on her chest, a helpful reminder of who she was. Who she identified as. They couldn’t just take that from her, even if John intended to tear off that scrap of skin as he had done thousands of times in the past despite it not being a messy written out sin. 

“I never said it was a sin.” He was speaking quieter though. Sounding too unsure. “But my parents, you see…” his voice rolled off, losing steam and vehemence as he tipped his head down to press the softest of kisses to her tattoo. “Of course it’s not a sin. Eden’s Gate accepts everyone from all walks of life. That’s why we’ve been chosen to lead those after the collapse.” 

There was a wetness in his eyes when he looked back up at her. Peering behind stray hairs that had fallen in front of his face. “We won’t change you Rook, not when--” again he cut himself off. Lips twisting like whatever memory was playing in his head was physically hurting him. “You’re the one we’ve been waiting for. So how could you be anything less than perfect?” She wasn’t sure how the conversation delved into such a topic, but she was thankful for it. Because it lead John down some dark rabbit hole she couldn’t yank him back up from. It had him so silent as he stood on unshaky feet and cupped her cheek to make her look up at him. “I’m not going to try to change you or your mindset. That’d be wrong.” Spoken as if he didnt understand but knew it was the right thing to say. “I don’t think the Duncans would agree on those terms but I’m trying to be different from how I was back then Rook. That’s what Joseph wants too.” He leaned down, moving quick as the ropes around her wrists were cut with a loud snap. 

 

“I really am trying. And I think I can start with you.”


	37. John/Rook Terms Set

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John spanking the Deputy. She comes to him every few nights asking for his help because "she's been bratty" etc and he obliges by bending her over his knee. (bonus praise kink)

“You want me to do what now?”

Rook shied away from his prying gaze, curling in on herself for what was probably the first time in her life. And for good reason considering what she just said.

“Look at me deputy.” God help her but she did. Something in his voice made her knees weak. No doubt he could see that when her gaze faltered. “Better.” He cleared his throat, fiddling with the key around his neck as he took a sweeping glance around his darkly lit room, she broke in after all, anyone could be hiding in the shadows. “Now, what do you want me to do to you? And may I ask why?” 

“I need help--”

 

John held up his hand to stop her, eyes closing briefly as he inhaled deeply, hand resting on his bare hip because of course John Seed slept shirtless with only a loose pair of sweatpants. “I got that part. Explain deputy, before I grow bored.” In all truth he looked more tired than bored, and that fatigue could flip into agitation real quick.

“I--” She shifted, taking a careful step towards him. “I figured you could offer...guidance, you’re the one who saves souls, right John? Isn’t that your obligation to Eden’s Gate?”

“I do save people.” He agreed with narrowed eyes. “I punish the bad, exterminate it so the good can be revealed.”

Rook tipped her head in consideration of her next words, knowing full well that she never really answered his question. “We both know the damage I’ve done. The taunts I’ve sent your way for months now.”

“You’ve acted like a child, a petty brat. A thorn in my side. You realize this--finally--and you want help, you’re looking for my special touch and expertise in this field.” 

“Yes. Yes that.”

John laughed, sharp and too loud. “My, my, look at you. You are enjoying this aren’t you? The simple prospect of my help has you swaying on your feet. You know you haven’t been acting right and you’ve come to me for punishment. What a treat.” He chuckled, somehow looking like the professional baptist even with unkempt hair and bags hanging heavy under his eyes. “What should I do with you dear?” 

He clicked his tongue in thought. Eyes shining over with excitement as he neared her, reaching out too quick for her to pull back. He yanked her in close until her back slammed into his chest, wrapping arms around her until her squirming stopped, because she wanted this. That’s why she found it such a good idea to break into his house in the middle of the night without telling a single soul.

“I have an idea, someway to put you in your place. Maybe you’ll stop acting out after this, hm?” John took slow steps back until he could safely fall back on his bed. He wasted no time tugging Rook across his lap. “Perhaps all you need is someone to show you how to behave. To make you heel.” 

His palm smoothed out over her leggings, form fitting, something that clung to her ass and thighs. He stroked over her flesh with calming motions until she relaxed into him, fingers not grabbing too tightly onto his jeans, but still there, ready to pull if need be. 

In one swift motion he yanked her leggings down, whistling low in his throat, “No panties?”

“I can explain.”

“Oh I’m sure you can.” There was a sharp crack that made her jump when his hand came in to contact with her bare skin. “I don’t want to hear your excuses.” He rose his hand up again, taking note of the swell of her ass and the curve of her spine before slamming back down. Sighing in content at how her cheeks jiggled and swayed with how her hips squirmed.

He alternated his hits on each cheek. Making them both a blazing red by the time he reached twenty. He wasn’t being gentle. 

John placed his forearm across her back, rucking up her t-shirt in the process. It was the only thing keeping her from leaping off his lap with each spank he delivered. “Stay still darling. I’m doing this to help you.” He bent to lay a kiss to her ass, feeling the heat that radiated off of her skin. “I’m sure you have it in you to be a good girl for only a few moments.”

Rook nodded fervently. Arching her body ever so slightly into the next soft touch he gave her. A delicate stroke over her reddened rear. “You want to be good.” An astute observation that made her whine into the material of his pants. “I know, I know,” He soothed, “But your transgressions must be met with the appropriate punishment lest you have the urge to commit them again.” His words were finalized with another rough slap. 

Ten more had her skin tinging a light shade of purple amongst the red. “I think that should do it.” He rubbed the flat of his palm over her ass, moving back and forth until her whimpering had quieted down. He helped her up, hands steady on her hips and holding tight when she attempted to step away. 

“You did good.” He shifted her so he could take in the fiery red patch of skin that he had created. “Lord knows you look good too.” 

The praise went straight to her head, making her sway where she stood. John knew it, he showed it in the way he smiled up at her from his spot on the edge of the bed. “Are we still going to have problems after tonight deputy?” He rose just as she pulled away, a subtle wince as she grabbed her leggings off the floor. “Do I still need to keep an eye on you?”

“Dunno.” She covered her legs quickly, her bag hauled over her shoulder next, eyes darting to the open window--the only clear indication of her break in--”We’ll see.”

John huffed a laugh. Rubbing his hands together as if he were the one in pain. “In that case,” He intercepted her path before she could make it to the window, arms crossed over his chest in smug triumph. “I guess I’ll see you the same time next week.”


	38. Jacob/Rook Coaxing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anal sex between Jacob and the female deputy

He was working her open on his fingers. Hand splayed wide on her back, coaxing her hips into the air to give him access to her hole. A tight bundle of muscles that twitched when he first spread her cheeks and exposed her to the open air of his office. 

She sucked in his first finger with a generous amount of lube coating his skin. Her muscles pulled taut immediately, resisting when he pumped his digit in and out. The second went in with a little more difficulty, and that was when he pressed his hand in the middle of her back, thumb rubbing along the ridges of her spin to calm her down. Make her relax and open up for him.

Rook whined out something pretty as his second finger popped inside her. Lube squelching an obscene sound that almost covered up her cry of pain.

“Hush now pup. Take it like a good girl.” He scissored his fingers inside of her, forcing her muscles to stretch wide. “Think you can take some more?”

She glanced over her shoulder fleetingly, eyes catching his in the dark, worry was laced there. Her hips wiggled, stopped only when his hand caught her waist and squeezed a reassurance. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

And that was the worst thing about this. That he wanted her to enjoy this, the sick bastard he was, he wanted her to get some sort of pleasure out of what he was doing. Sure, he liked making people suffer, it made them strong in his eyes. But for her? For his deputy? The worst kind of torture that would end up breaking her was knowing that he could make her feel something no one else had since she stepped in Hope County.

“There ya go.” His voice dropped impossibly lower between them. Making her ears rings and buzz when he managed to force in a third finger. Everything in her body tightened at the intrusion. Her legs splayed a tad wider as she shoved her head down in the pillow he had provided.

When he pulled his fingers out there was an immediate protest falling from her lips. She felt bereft and empty, whining to make him hurry things along. He hummed something sweet in response, and acknowledgement in the smallest sense meant to keep her quiet before he was shuffling in closer, pulling her along by her hips to line himself up.

There was the press of his fat cock head jutting against her ass. The pressure that followed had her gasping, no amount of prep would’ve helped with the pain she felt when he breached her. The curved bell shape of his head finally slipping inside. “Fuck.” He curse under his breath, watching with rapt attention as her hole clenched around him, sucking him inside her.

Jacob rolled his hips harshly, a sharp knock of air leaving her lungs when he slipped in another inch. What he lacked in length, he made up for in how fucking thick he was. Wide and girthy, splitting her open, spearing her on his dick until his flesh disappeared between her cheeks.

“You look good like this.” He commented, praising her body for giving him that kind of pleasure. “Made to be a fucking cock sleeve huh?” He laughed at her arching back into him, thrusting minutely when he failed to move.

He had a dramatic flair that most people thought would belong to John, the playboy. Yet Jacob kept going. He kept talking, speaking, loved hearing his own voice. The man made a goddamn powerpoint presentation as he strutted around, showing off for an audience who never wanted to see his face again after that night. He was no different in bed. She wondered for a moment why that surprised her.

“C’mon Rook, you’ve gone quiet on me.” 

His hips stuttered when he pulled out and pushed back in, hissing at the drag of skin against skin on his sensitive nerves. That sound filled the room as he picked up the pace, slamming their hips together again and again. Making her ears ring each time he groaned and her lower belly filled with heat she wasn’t sure she wanted or even deserved. 

“Such a goddamn mouse, thought I’d get some words outta ya once I fucked you hard. Is this not enough?” A reminder in how this whole thing came to be. A harsh one at that, mingled words teasing her of how he coaxed her out of her cage, off the muddy ground and onto his bed.

_ “Don’t think I’ve ever heard you speak a single thing pup. You must drive those friends of yours fucking crazy.” _

_ He peered in the bars of her cage, leaning in closer, tilting his head to catch her eyes as she buried her head further into the ground as if she could burrow away and escape. _

_ The laugh he gave a second later was cruel. Maybe he saw her cringe away from him. _

_ “Honey this silent treatment really is starting to hurt my feelings. Makes me wonder.” _

_ He tapped his fingers against the metal bars. Jamming out a tune that didn’t allow her to forget his presence. _

_ “Have you ever said a thing in you life Rook? Ever verbalized those wants and dreams you must have?” She closed her eyes, ignored how he reached towards her to pet at her cheek. “I bet you speak real pretty given the chance, the right situation, and the right person guiding your words.” _

_ It was unspoken but clear. _

_ Jacob suddenly found her weakness. He saw through her with a shocking quickness that frightened her for the first time since she had been in his grasp. For all intents and purposes he meant to use that against her, he did it to everyone. _

“Don’t you go zoning out on me.”

“M’not.” It came out in little more than a whisper. Scratchy and nervous from lack of use. God, it must’ve been months since she last spoke. It hurt, made her throat clench just as tight as her ass just did. Like some part of her subconscious was trying to stop her from saying anything else to the man looming above her, shocked into silence at hearing her voice.

His reward, not verbal but impossible to ignore, came in the form of his hands working her over. Slipping between the mattress to raise her hips higher to reach his target between her thighs.

The calluses on his fingers scratched deliciously on her clit. Rubbing over her nub with a gentle touch. He circled it with care, a juxtaposition of his sudden harsh thrusts. Jostling her forward each time his pelvis knocked into hers with a click of bones rattling.

“That’s a good girl.” He rocked into her a little harder, praise in both body and words. “I’m sure you’ll give me some more, let me listen to you. This was all you needed wasn’t it Rook?”

She hummed, scared to speak again, scared to get more praise that was sure to make her sing with pleasure. Not that he didn’t try to get something out of her, whether it be a moan her whimper lost in her ears, he got what he wanted.

Jacob was close, she could tell in how he pressed his weight down on her more so than before. He was practically shaking, buzzing with sensitivity. “If you want it honey I need you to tell me.” He pulled out almost fully, leaving in the crown of his cock, inches away from slipping out unless she told him that she wanted him to fill her up and leave her dripping.

The noise that came out of her mouth was akin to a whine. A low rumble following up out of her throat in an attempt to get something out. “C’mon honey, that’s it.” He slid back in, up to the hilt, making her suck in a deep breath to ground her. “I’m right here, you just gotta say it.”

“P-please. Need, n-need,” She cut herself off with a sob that was immediately soothed by Jacob. His fingers worked her over until she was cumming. Clenching down around his cock, squeezing at him until he was seeing stars, spilling into her ass without warning.

It was warm and thick, coating the walls of her ass white with his seed.

He pulled out of her slow, a small pop squelching with a combination of his cum and lube. Jacob yanked her back into his chest, easing her face into the crook of his neck, making her aware of only him. Dialing her world down into Jacob Seed and his kindly veiled words disguised to bend her will and warp her mind.


	39. PolySeed/Rook Christmas Headcanon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How each Seed would celebrate Christmas with their Deputy respectively

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's January 1st...and here is this Christmas themed headcanon...'tis the season

**John-**

  * He has no good memories of Christmas, too young to remember the attempts Jacob made to make the holidays better, only really recalling time spent with the Duncan's. And in that house just the thought of receiving so many gifts on a sacred day was grounds for punishment. It’s almost some twisted form of PTSD that makes him nervous around Christmas, so it’s not his idea to celebrate in the way most people would call traditional
  * It is his idea to have a feast though. It’s the first thing that comes to mind when Rook brings up Christmas. Having good food prepared to stuff themselves full sounds like a treat for once. Not like he would cook it, no, that’d be wrong. He had chefs, and if he has to kidnap the best damn chef in Hope County then so be it.
  * Rook begs for a real tree, frowning when John shrugged and said he could order a fake one off the internet. Though it’s around the time when his men are pulling the large tree into his home that he starts getting excited.
  * He buys decorations by the bucket load, hanging ornaments up with festive music playing in the background. 
  * This is the kind of thing he had always wished for when he was a child, so yes, he is acting like one all throughout this ordeal. Grabbing at Rook and bouncing on his feet when the tree is finished and the whole house smells of pine. He pulls them both on the sofa and is content to spend the days leading up to Christmas just like that, with them swapping stories, learning more about each other. Him exposing things that he never thought he’d tell her.
  * Oh boy, by the time Christmas day rolled around Rook’s excitement had turned into his own. Making him wake up at five in the morning shaking her awake. 
  * The day is a world wind of activity, even after the presents are open he isn’t about to let her fall back asleep. He must have her try on the clothes he bought her, and he needs feedback on what she thinks of her presents. He doesn’t want to celebrate with them lying in bed next to one another, they can do that any day of the week. John needs to be up and about, not only to ward off the feeling of being slothful, but because the few bleak memories he has of Christmas was spent in his room, curled in bed before he woke just like a normal day. This has to feel special, so it needs to be different to stand out from all those bad memories.



 

**Jacob-**

  * Jacob always tried his best to make Christmas a magical time of year when his brothers were younger. It was his specialty, something he got good at. Making something out of the very little they had. So he’s no stranger to playing the caretaker, to actually waking up and wanting to make someone in his life smile.
  * He celebrates with small gifts to start off Rook’s day, tiny knick knacks and things he collected during the spare time he had to hunt. It makes it more personal that way, more intimate than he usually ever is.
  * The dinner they share Christmas night is, of course, freshly hunted by Jacob the previous night. It’s fresh and not prepared by him, because the man cannot cook to save his life. Even all the years on his own and taking care of his brothers didn’t fix that.
  * He lets Rook sleep in for once, a small gift she was bound to appreciate after adhering to his strict military schedule, it gives him time to settle his nerves too.
  * Jacob does not get a tree, if Rook were to convince him it’d be fake too. Too much of a mess and he’d rather not clean up pine needles or add watering a tree into his tight routine. He values cleanliness and a tree isn’t fit for his office.
  * Jacob can’t stay in his office all day, and on the off chance he does dedicate his whole day to Rook, they’d be going outside. Either to check on the Judges or tagging along with one of his hunting parties. 



 

**Joseph-**

  * He prefers the quiet days. He wants a day spent where he isn’t running around tending to his flock or worrying about Eden Gate affairs. And Christmas seems like a perfect excuse for him to hide away in his home with Rook. 
  * Despite not putting his followers first in his mind during Christmas, he does put Rook’s needs in front of his own. Intent on showing her a good time. Keeping her happy and warm tucked under his arm that day. Getting a slow start by waking up later, allowing them both to sleep in for once. He’d keep her in his arms until he felt himself grow weary of lying down, pulling her along with him to the showers.
  * It’s not often they can start the day together, so he takes his time. Exploring each others bodies with a stream of hot water running down their backs. 
  * He lets his hair down for once, doesn’t throw on his glasses and dresses in a sweater with the same color scheme that he hands Rook. 
  * The curtains are open just enough to give them the warmth of the sun as they sit around the tiny Christmas tree that was a gift from a member of his flock. It’s small, really tiny. Maybe three feet tall and lacking any ornaments. But for them it’s enough. Because Joseph views a good Christmas as the time spent with others, not the gifts or any decorations that are laid out. His lack of family in early years made him value those small things better than he ever could.




	40. John/Joey Omegaverse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Joey Omegaverse

He was pacing, back and forth in front of her. Eyes glued to the floor, flicking towards the metal door every few seconds as if he expected to be interrupted. Not that he didn’t take precautions already. Harsh words with a cold undertone directed at his men that this confession was of the utmost importance and he requested no one to bother him during that time unless his family was in need of him. But he handled that too, radio calls to all three of his siblings, much kinder words given to them lest they get suspicious. 

Because with a reputation like John’s, people are bound to wonder. He couldn’t fault them for that, no matter how irritated it made him. 

Realistically he had nothing to worry about. Though the sight of someone naked and tied up so prettily in front of him made him nervous. 

“I’ve been thinking,” John turned again on his heel, pivoting sharply so he could stalk towards her, “We’ve both had time to think haven’t we Deputy Hudson?” He kneeled down in front of her, eyes taking in her disheveled appearance.

More focused on her scent though, in all truth. Breathing it in thickly, noting how it filled the small space and made him dizzy. She was scared, anxious too. And John would be lying if he said such a smell didn’t make him harden in his jeans. Ready for his knot to swell right then and there. 

“I think it’s about time that I finally move forward, I’ve been all talk. Empty threats, we both know that.” He flashed a smile when he ripped the duct tape from her lips with a rough flick of his wrist. “I am a man of my promises.” He leaned in closer, placing his hands on her shoulders and promptly shushing her when she whined. “Do you remember what promise I made last week?”

He waited two heartbeats before straightening, hand falling to his belt buckle to draw her attention. “If I recall correctly, I claimed that you and I would soon learn who was in charge. You would come to the understanding that your darling Rook would not be rescuing you.” He fiddled with his belt, undoing the clasp. “I promised that you would be drained of all that hope that you still carry in your eyes like a fool.” His belt clanked dully on the cement floor when he threw it down, making Hudson wince. “That day’s today.”

The fight she put up was half hearted at best. He could smell her arousal, even when she told him to back the fuck up and not to touch her. She couldn’t hide her scent, and John has always used that to his advantage.

“Maybe I wasn’t clear earlier,” John snarled out as he wrangled her shirt off her, “This is meant to teach you, to build you up deputy Hudson, I’m not the enemy.” Those words were said as he sliced through her pants. Taking a few steps back to take in her half naked state. 

He pushed his scent outward, made it flare until he saw her tip her head away to avoid the strength of it. 

John popped the buttons open on his shirt, tossing it down easy as pie along with his jeans. He wouldn’t flaunt his sin to it’s full extent, even if his body was dying for such a thing. It’d go against The Father, making him just as bad as the sinners he was absolving. 

But turning on his radio as he crouched between Hudson’s splayed legs, tuning into Rook’s channel, it was all too easy. Made even easier knowing that Rook was far far away, off in the Henbane saving the weak man that his sister had claimed. She couldn’t come running at the drop of a hat, she’d just have to listen to what he was doing. She’d have to hear his voice explain to her every small action. 

It’d be a brief heaven for him, a victory amongst the larger war she was waging against him. And maybe hearing her colleague moan and whine out his name would convince her enough to take a step back and realize what she could have if she just said yes.


	41. John/Rook Fatigue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Deputy letting herself get caught just so they can have a long sleep already. Because running around Hope County makes them sleep deprived and getting knocked out of a Bliss bullet seems like a great idea. And John reacting to this "confession" of theirs

She had been running on empty for longer than she thought. That realization came with the crashing defeat of her tripping and stumbling over her own feet. Shoes feeling like lead weighing her down too much for her to keep going. To just get up and go like she so desperately needed to. 

It didn’t come as a surprise when she met the cold embrace of the grass around her, it really couldn’t, not after the grueling weeks she endured. The food she had in her bag was dwindling slowly, no amount of rationing she attempted would fix that situation. Her godforsaken fishing rod had snapped in two after a fight with a very persistent trout that she hadn’t gotten to eat. Most days the hunger cramps running through her stomach making her muscles clench would keep her up at night, the lack of water didn’t aid that problem either. The water she drank came from the taps of dead and gone homeowners, rusted and probably contaminated with bliss. 

Despite all this she kept going. She played the County’s perfect little errand boy with no qualms or worry for her safety. Rook never really had a sense of self preservation, not the kind built for this kind of life anyway. Maybe that’s why things got as bad as they did. With her sleep deprived, getting a minimum of four hours a night, and ready to keel over at the next gust of wind that rustled the trees flanking her on all sides. 

She was doomed right from the beginning, John’s men were biting at her heels, they had been ever since she crossed the line separating the Jacob’s homeland from Holland Valley in a mistake potentially--and admittedly rookie mistake--where she had meant to go into The Henbane in the hopes that the bliss would provide some much needed release. Not death, just peace.

One wrong turn on a barely there well worn road deep in the mountains and she had stumbled across John’s caravan. Her own car, way smaller than the white pickups that they were equipped with, almost collided head on with the ringleader. She had turned around as fast as she could have managed on such a narrow road. Not like that dissuaded them, maybe the threat of John’s wrath made them work that much harder to give chase.

 

A crashed car, hood smashed from a guardrail, left her on foot a tad too soon for her to be able to make any sort of run for safety. Strange that she found no shame to waste no time stumbling through the forest scared out of her wits, because on a good day she couldn’t face up to John, now with her as weak as she was, as tired as she was, there was no way she’d survive. She wouldn’t be able to keep up with his charisma and snake like charm.

And seep, blessed sleep at the hand of the bliss bullets she knew filled the cartridges of their guns--it sounded nice. So fucking nice that her legs were slowing down, not moving as agile as she once did. So she stopped. Rook let her toe catch on the root of a tree and went down hard. 

They found her curled up on her side ten minutes into their search through the thick patch of a forest she ran into. Eyes shut tight against the weaning light of the daytime, a groan of annoyance leaving her lips. With her that far gone they didn’t even need the bliss to haul her back to John. 

She was knocked out cold by the time he strolled in, dark sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off stained ink with a metal tray in hand. John paused where he stood in the middle of the room. The whistling tune he had on his lips dying out as he took her in. Drinking in the sight of her, quiet and demure for once despite the space he was taking up. 

“Deputy.” He shifted closer to her, eating up the distance between them with much more caution than he normally exhibited, placing the tray down on a side table where it rattled with the items that filled it. He flicked on a lamp to the side, illuminating her better. “Dep?” She was pale, a sickly grey color that was almost worrying. He’d think her dead if not for the subtle rise and fall of her chest. 

He reached his hand out to cup her cheek, thumb moving over her skin like a metronome, urging her to wake. A subtle kind act he hoped would be the kind of approach Joseph would appreciate. To his utter amusement that seemed all she needed to stir, eyes twitching behind closed lids. Lips pulling down as she released a groan. 

“There you are, awake finally.” John mused, bending at the waist to be eye level with her. His hand holding firmly onto her shoulder, rubbing at the tattered tank top she wore, already exposing enough skin for him to work with. “I had to wait five hours for you this time around, and that was without bliss.” He shook his head slightly, agitated maybe. “Joseph wants this over and done with yesterday. So lets start.” 

The first thing she saw when she cracked open her eyes was John’s bright smile. Almost genuine if not for the coldness in his eyes, lord knows how he ever managed as a lawyer or a baptist for those who believe. If you looked, really searched deep, you could see through the act he was putting on just to get words to spill from your mouth. She didn’t return the gesture, only halfway lucid, and that was good enough for the kind of confession John intended to do. “I understand you may be nervous,” he began softly, playing the sympathetic, ‘I’m just like you are’ card. The kind that would win over anyone desperate and weary enough if he caught them on a bad day. John sighed, falling down on his knees to press in closer to her. “That’s okay, it’s normal.” He paused, as if waiting for her to pick up the conversation where he so graciously left it hanging.. “How about you tell me why you came along to willingly. You see, The Father disclosed to me that he believes your sin to be Pride, he never would have expected you to roll over and let us take you. Not after the goose hunt you lead us on.”

Rook snarled at that, anger flaring red hot. How dare he accuse her of her faults when his list ran a mile long. “I was fucking tired.” The truth was meant to set you free right? And if John wanted a confession she could tell the truth for once. This once if it meant getting out of here and curling up in some dilapidated house with a mattress stained with innocent blood.

He blinked once. Pulling back with wide eyes before leaning in again, face directly in front of hers. “You were---tired?”

She nodded once, curt and short. “Yeah. Physically. Mentally. Whatever, I’m done.” It wasn’t true, god it couldn’t be. In reality she could never stop. So sure, maybe Joseph was right. Pride was a dangerous thing. It could be what broke her in the end, the whole not wanting to give up when she’s not a damn soldier. 

John was hanging onto the few words she submitted to him. Eyes wide and encouraging along with the constant bobbing of his head. “I see.” She was sure he was reading too far into her words, but she was tired, that fatigue, the draining feeling set deep in her bones made her feel like she no longer had the capacity to care. “You just gave in because you were tired, you laid down while the rest of the world was hard at work. Your laziness has probably cost some people their lives tonight.”

Rook jumped at the first press of ink staining her skin. Unsure of when the hell he had grabbed the tattoo gun, how she didn’t realize it was held in his tight grip that was poised and ready. “No.” Her mouth felt dry as he continued his work, not listening to her sorry excuse of a defense, moving quicker than she thought possible for a man who appeared to like drawing these sort of things out as much as possible. He was probably afraid of letting her have any chance of escaping him this time around, “I let myself get caught, just for a break John. After today I’ll be back on the front lines. You can count on that.” 

He finished with a flick of his wrist and a smile. Rubbing over the new tattoo with the pad of his thumb, tracing the same sin that adorned the baptist’s chest. 

Sloth. Offcentered and lopsided, done in a child’s messy handwriting, an angry red outlining the words. “Of course. If that’s what you want to tell yourself. Does that sound like Pride to you?” He hissed, brows tipping down in the process, cringing like just saying those words made the sin his own. 

All the same he tattooed that next, stretching it across her already exposed forearm. “You can tell yourself that if it helps you feel better. If it makes you sleep soundly at night while others fall around you.” He smiled, something soft and personal, standing to look her over. “And maybe I shouldn’t say this, as much as Joseph would disapprove, but I’m glad your sins were your eventual downfall, for in the end they lead you right into my arms deputy. For that I’ll be forever thankful.”


	42. John/Rook His

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Deputy has been married off to Jacob, and now that they’re expecting he’s jealous and angsty

His deputy.

It had just fell out from his mouth, spoken loud and harsh enough for Jacob not to hear it.

A freudian slip he could claim.

But Jacob had been facing him when John had said those words and he could lie, but Jacob had an innate ability at reading John. No way he didn’t see the anger in his eyes, the wrath that spilled from him when he said it. His deputy. His.

Fuck, even saying our deputy wouldve been better. He could explain that away with a sheepish smile and a hand curled around the nape of his neck as he averted his eyes. A namesake from the past when deputy Rook was running rampant and wasn’t fucking married to one of the Seeds, she was always called our deputy. Or sometimes his when he felt bold enough, no one questioned the term.

But his own brother now had the liberty of calling that woman his wife. So Jacob was standing back, a strange look on his face and a tilt of his head as he swept his gaze over the length of John’s body. 

“Repeat that for me Johnny.”

He didn’t.

“John.”

He shifted his feet towards the door, seriously thinking of running at this point so he didn’t have to explain the biting jealousy eating him up inside. 

“You at least wanna look at me?” Jacob asked, voice going quiet when he walked forward. His hands curled behind his back as he stalked in closer, pinning his brother between himself and his desk. “I give you what is possibly the best news in my whole goddamn life and this is how you react? You wanna play the role of the pissy little brother instead of celebrating? Fucking fine, you can’t even stand others happiness Johnny, something’s changed you.”

That made John cringe, shoulders curling inward as he tipped his head down. Trying to appear smaller than he already was in Jacob’s presence. Because Jacob wasn’t wrong, he was different. Changed. His world did a fucking 180 in a single moment when they got married, when Joseph had to play the teasing brother he rarely did and elbow Jacob in the ribs with the cheeky question on if they planned on consummating their marriage as if they hadn’t fucked before--John knew they had--could see it by the way Rook blushed and Jacob winked at her. 

It was another stab from his own bloodline when Jacob had invited him over and dropped the news.

They were expecting. Rook was going to be a mother and Jacob a father. John and Joseph expected to play the role of uncles while Faith was promoted to an aunt.

In any other situation he’d be proud of his brother. After all the man endured he deserved a family, a domestic little lifestyle and his own spawn to nurture the way he never had. 

His deputy. 

The words now felt sour on his tongue despite him only saying it once in the first time in three years. 

“I’m happy for you.”

“Wow.” Jacob laughed, arms crossing over his chest as he smiled with mockery. “You really couldn’t have tried to sound less positive could you?” 

John swallowed, straightened his back and forced a smile. “What did Joseph say?”

“He’s fucking ecstatic.” Bitten out with absolute anger as he leaned forward slightly. “Plans on getting us all together to throw a damn party.” If Jacob was known to joke around and Joseph wasn’t as crazy as he was for any kind of family, John wouldn’t have believed him.

“I’ll be there.”

Jacob scoffed, grabbing at John by his shoulder with a little too much force to be considered brotherly affection and lead him towards his office door. “Course you will, to see your deputy right brother?” The word brother spat out like an insult as the door slammed behind him. 

*****

She wasn’t showing yet, there was no bump beneath the tight fitting shirt she was wearing. Nothing gave it away. And if he closed his eyes and pretended he could imagine that everything would remain the same, that maybe he could slip in closer to Rook. Sneak behind Jacob and wrangle her in until she was standing beside him. 

Possibly the only thing that gave it away was how protective Jacob was. Draped over her shoulder with a palm pressed into the delicate curve of her hips, fingers brushing just barely along her flat stomach.

And of course Fath wasn’t helping in the way she was knelt on the floor, staining her knees green from the high grass of Seed Ranch, her hands on Rook’s navel, cooing at the child growing inside her with a grin stretching wide.

John almost wished he never came. Wished this damn party of sorts wasn’t held at the place he called home. 

“John!”

He cringed, shoulders hiking up around his neck much like it did when he was speaking to Jacob earlier. Now doing the same thing because that man’s eyes were held on him, focusing on where John stood awkwardly in the path leading to them when Faith had called to him. 

He shifted on his feet before moving forward. Uneasy when he stood next to his siblings, not meeting Joseph’s gaze, who no doubt already felt the tension hanging heavy over them. 

John wants to say he tried to put a firm clamp down on the envy he felt bubbling up inside him. He wants to believe that he was the perfect embodiment of a gentleman and showed off as the pleased brother he rightfully should have been. And though he claimed to be a lot of things he was in no way a liar.

So yes, he may have avoided Jacob’s searing hot gaze and said words laced with razor sharp edges. There was a time when the smile he showed off to Rook while helping her set the table was more mocking than happy, and the teasing words were more pointed than usual.

“Really? Bedding down with Jacob, out of all the Seeds you could’ve taken? Is that the best choice dear?” 

And when John cornered her, tucked them away in the kitchen until she was jammed between him and the counter, his hands on her stomach were more harsh than a kind and curious uncle. 

Envy. 

Envy. 

Envy. 

The word scratched at his mind restlessly, making the carved piece of skin on his shoulder blade throb as he snarled out jealous words in her ear that had her tremble at his proximity. 

“You know that I’ve always loved you first. I don’t know what I did to put you off and make my brother seem more appealing, but that man doesn’t have it in him to nurture a child. Not after all the shit he has done Rook. You know that. I can see the fear in your eyes whenever Jacob talks about the future you’ll have.” He laughed, soft between them so no one could hear from where they were happy and gay in the living room. “I mean really, imagine what kind of life he could build for a family. The carnage in the mountains my brother manages isn’t easy to hide. You can’t raise a kid when just outside your room are people locked in cages starving and packs of bloodthirsty Judges.” John clicked his tongue, pulling back and placing his splayed hands on either side of her stomach.

His lips ghosted over her own, nipping at the flesh when she didn’t respond to the affection. “I’ll be right here Rook, if Jacob doesn’t take proper care of that child or he isn’t all he seems, you come to me. I’m your way out darling.”


	43. Joseph/Rook Letters From Forever Ago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the deputy's high school years she became Joseph's prison pen pal through a school program. Even after Joseph was released from prison, they continued to write each other, encouraging her to move to Hope County, to even become a deputy there.

Her mother was against it from the very start. Up in arms and almost ready to storm her goddamn school for allowing her precious daughter to interact with--what’d she call them?--the degenerates and low lifes plaguing our society. 

Just knowing how put off her mother was made it all the more appealing. It had the simple act of sitting at her desk and writing letters feeling so much more taboo. She wouldn’t do drugs or drink alcohol, she wouldn’t dare get a tattoo or dye her hair, but she could speak to a convicted man served by the judicial system and served up on a silver platter for her dull thirteen year old mind to prod at.

Looking at the old letters now, scattered around her, pulled out from a dusty faded box she hasn’t seen since childhood, it brought back some memories. She could barely recognize her slanted way too large handwriting that switched between cursive and script seemingly with no rhyme or reason. She laughed at that, though it got caught in her throat as watery and fierce, it made her wonder how the hell Joseph put up with that for so long.          

His own writing was neat. When she was young she liked to think this mystery man was articulate and smart because of that. Maybe put away on charges that didn’t morph him into one of the dregs of the world like her mother claimed. Surely he must’ve had a good education or even a good job to use the kind of words he was using. To write so thoughtfully.

It made her head spin, him using the kind of words that would make her English teacher proud.

Rook hadn’t put any kind of dates on the letters, so when she began to read she couldn’t keep track of the timeline like she would have liked.

Did Joseph remember this as well as she did? How long did he keep her letters? Surely not as long as she did. With her carefully constructed box housing them beautifully all these years, the only type of fading coming from old age and nothing more.

Her eyes skipped and skimmed over the papers held in her grasp, spread like one would hold a deck of cards. She only read small pieces torn from those scattered sentences from a lifetime ago. No real time to fully read them when she heard the telltale sound of those white vans pull up ten minutes before to the small cabin she called her home in Hope County. They were circling her, closing in and securing the perimeter as if she was truly stupid enough to escape out the back door into the forest.  

The tears in her eyes made the world blurry, though she tried her best to commit the few words she caught to memory.

_ ….Rook Moule...13 years ol...I don’t think you’re that bad of a man. _

That was all it took to make her eyes slam shut. Who knows which number letter this was. From which week or month. Who knew how many letters they sent back and forth for her to make such a bold declaration on his character.

_ I’d like to think that you’ll find your family. You didn’t deserve that kind of childhood...I’m not religious...though if it’d be okay...you can say no, if it offends you, but I can pray for you and your brothers. Do you think that’d help Mr. Seed? _

It must’ve helped. Located up above, spanning high past the clouds, her prayers, along with his own, were answered. Although somewhere along the line maybe He misheard her, perhaps something went wrong for Him to bring Joseph back into her life only to drag in the feelings of betrayal with him. Forcing her hand to walk into the white worn out church where she stared down the man looking too close to the crumpled up picture given to Rook by her teacher when they were assigned with this stupid, godforsaken project.

She still remembers the rush of sadness when the year ended, and of course the exhilaration of continuing to write Joseph well out of high school without her mother’s knowledge, when she was turning 18 and so afraid of where she’d end up and he was fresh out of prison for whatever sentence he was serving.

**_You shouldn’t worry about those things, child. Though I wouldn’t lie to you, not when you have been more than forthcoming with me, I was accused. Nothing more than that. Accused and targeted. Society looked me in the eyes, saw where I stood upon my podium and they realized they didn’t like what they heard...I preached on that street corner for weeks...No one wanted to hear the truth, so they locked me away...A public nuisance they claimed. Don’t be like them child, not when you have the rest of your life ahead of you to shape out your own choices._ **

He didn’t force her to move here, that’s what hurt the most. She was there with him, reading and rereading the letters he sent in his life telling of each achievement he reached as she flew through her time in the academy. Those years ago she would sit by an old lamp imaging the ecstasy he felt and the sheer joy at finding his brothers. She was living out his seemingly much more interesting life through his notes, and when he once said she should meet them, she laughed.

Then he mentioned it again. And again.

She laughed when she wrote out--again and again--how she couldn’t. Too busy with family and college, the stress of moving out when she reached the age of 22.

Then his wife and child died.

**_A freak accident...no pain for them, I thank God for that...she was so young, newly born...Samantha was her name, I called her Sammy...God gifted me my brothers... my brothers were finally uncles...and He took my wife and child from me, from them too...I don’t know what I’m doing here without them. I’m listless and tired, so very tired Rook._ **

He asked one more time.

**_Please...Darling, I can’t...by the grace of God...I don’t know how you continue to reject...Please, child._ **

Suddenly he sounded so very desperate. Urgent too, like he couldn’t bear the thought of her saying no one more time. Perhaps what she wrote next would be the one thing that would either break him or build him back up to the lively man he used to be in his letters and around his people.  

Rook was 25. Out of her parents hair for good now, living not so near to where he relocated, far away from Georgia when another run in with the cops proved to be the last straw. Another accusation. A missing person. He didn’t answer her questions when she asked about it, always changing the subject on that topic.

**_Hope County! Doesn’t that sound nice? So very beautiful. It is the perfect place to settle down with my flock...you’re far from me now, and that thought hurts more than I first imagined._ **

Letter after letter arrived. Folded pictures soon began to accompany each one, neatly tucked away in the off white envelope. She held the dozens of photos in her hands amongst all the worn paper. The first one that caught her attention showed the start of his church, a halfway built wooden house with a sun glare on the top right corner. The scenery and wildlife came next, so many pictures detailing just how pretty Montana was, how different it was from their shared state. And pictures of him.

Joseph by himself, tucked away in his church that finally finished construction. Him with all sorts of people from his congregation, mothers and fathers, young children that he cradled in his arms that she assumed eased the pain of the loss of his daughter.

Only one picture of him and his brothers. Joseph smiling with pressed lips, crows feet showing his age. A man off to his right, the only one who dared to show teeth in his smile, tipping his head down slightly, as if scared of the camera. Another who glared at the lens like it was a challenge, hand holding on tight to Joseph’s shoulder so hard she could see how his knuckles were turning white. All three men had a secretive gleam in their eyes, the same shade of blue she noted. They were squinting from whoever had decided to take a picture from an angle that made the sun shine out in front of them, probably the same one who wanted the Montana wilderness to be shown in the background.

__ _ I’m happy for you Joseph.  You look happy and healthy with your family….Montana's far, from where you grew up though, a nice escape I guess. _

Then his reply, asking if that was a yes to his unanswered question. If she was coming to Hope County. He would pay for her flights, her car ride right to the front door of his church. He’d get her a confirmed spot in the nearby police department.

He painted a wonderful picture along with the literal ones she stockpiled.

“Just fucking forgot to mention you’re a fucking murderer who should've stayed in prison.”

She wiped at her eyes. Scrubbing furiously until she could see again. Until she could clearly make out the mess she left for Joseph to find. Because no doubt he was out there with the rest of his men, standing beside his brothers and the acquired sister he picked up out of nowhere who he also failed to mention---amongst other things.

He loved her. That’s what he claimed. He adored her like she was his own flesh and blood, If she hadn’t heard the reports on him, all the files she poured over about the fanatical religious figure plaguing the county, they might’ve had something akin to a father daughter relationship that could’ve grown into something wonderful.   

He messed it up, destroyed the picturesque life she imagined having once she left her home town in Georgia for the rolling hills of Hope County.

Rook felt betrayed and so fucking angry. He told her of how he preached to those who were lost, and she admired that. He played her like a cheap kazoo and fully expected her to run into his arms like so many had before her.

She sympathized with him, formed something she didn’t want to be destroyed. Though how the fuck was she supposed to be accepted into his family when it was based on piles upon piles of corpses and fountains of blood that started way before she entered the county.

It hurt. He hurt her worse than he even realized.

Rook wanted to make him pay for that. So with fumbling hands she lit the match that she had discarded off to the side, as if she was going to change her mind after reading through those letters. All it served to do was tear into her again, it made her relive the good and bad in a span of ten minutes.

The fire sparked and caught on the gasoline she poured around her before she opened that damn box filled with deceitful lies. She rocked back and forth on her knees, head bowed down as the flames grew around her, eating into the wood perfectly. Painting a pretty picture for anyone standing outside who were watching the carnage.

The perfect way to make him hurt just as bad as he hurt her.

Take what he apparently loved the most. Stealing it away from him so rapidly in an act that he was no doubt scrambling to stop.

If praying worked all those years before, she hoped God could hear her out one more time. This last and most crucial time in all her life. She prayed dearly for Him to cut Joseph Seed’s heart out, to steal from him until his mind came shattering down.


	44. Joseph/Rook Sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deputy stumbles upon Joseph and finds him sick and vulnerable

He had wandered far into the surrounding forest that was his compound--like an idiot. Of course when he made the decision for an early morning walk at 2 in the morning it had seemed like a good idea. His skin felt like it was on fire, and his head was pounding out a painful rhythm that made him wince every few seconds. 

It had been so long since he had gotten sick he forgot how bad it could be. That his own body could turn on him with the flip of a coin. Joseph knew viruses lingered and would sneak into his fold, this was logical and normal and yet he was upset. Upset enough to seek refuge in the woods, far away from anyone who could be victim to the unjust wrath that poured out of him when he was feeling so unwell. 

Joseph let his forearm slam into the bark of a tree to steady himself. Slowly sliding down, letting his knees buckle and give out on him. He fell with a puff of dirt popping up around him as he curled up on his side. Content where he was with the cooling grass on his cheek and a breeze stirring around him. 

He heard her before he saw her. There was the not so quiet sound of her approach, branches and leaves crunching beneath her heavy footfalls along with the tune she was humming. 

He winced, curling further in on himself when he heard the blasphemy that she mumbled when she saw him. If he wasn’t so sick he’d like to believe that he would’ve had the strength to remind her not to take the Lord’s name in vain, especially not in his presence.

“You dying Joseph?”

The laugh he let out was interrupted with a coughing fit strangled out from his lungs. He unfurled slightly to look up at her with the hint of a smile. “Not yet child.”

“Shame.” Rook clicked her tongue in a show of disappointment. A sound that made him frown.

She stalked near, crouching down and watched how his head bobbed to follow her movements until she was sitting in front of him. “You’d be doing the world a favor.” Her words were whispered out, using a tone so soft, one he never thought her capable of. They lacked the bite, the anger and sarcasm that usually followed her everywhere, the one that made Joseph wonder just how long it’d take for her to see his side. In hindsight maybe it was the bottled water and torn cloth she suddenly had splayed out in front of her that made this woman appear more saintly than she ever has before. 

Her hand only hesitated for a moment before pressing to his forehead. He jumped at the contact, eyes failing to focus or even realize she had gotten as close as she had. “You look like you’re dying though.” Her head tipped, a curious gleam in her eyes. “What are you doing so far from home?” In all truth he wasn’t miles away, not as isolated as she would’ve liked, maybe a two minute walk. But that was a dangerous distance for someone as high profile as him, especially when he was too weak to hold up his own weight.

“I needed the air. A moment to clear my head.” He smiled up at her, leaning into the cool touch her hand offered. “And it seems as if God sent me an Angel to make sure I don’t fall prey to any ill creatures wishing me harm.” 

She pulled her arm away, curling it in on her chest to give him a once over. Other people would get loopy from a fever. Their temperature would rise and they’d be off in lala land. Some part of her was hoping that it would be the opposite for Joseph. That he would finally act like a normal man and not some sort of demi god who spoke in tongues. 

No luck though, considering he was gazing up at her from where he now rested his cheek against the grass with a dazed smile on his lips. 

Her jaw tightened when he brushed long fingers over her knee, eyes half lidded as he took her in. “You may not believe me, yet you haven't walked away Rook.”

Even when she spoke again, telling him that there was still a chance for her to do just that, she was assisting him. Bringing water to chapped lips, swiping a water clogged piece of fabric across his head and cheeks to give him some form of release from the fever that held him in it’s grasp. 

Rook stayed strong on her word that she could abandon him at any time she very well pleased, reminding him of that when he thanked her, even as she guided him to his feet she let him know this. She allowed him to put all his weight on her side as she walked through the winding forest belonging to his compound. 

It didn’t do much good when she was constant in her ministrations. Eyes sharp to make sure they slipped inside his home unnoticed and she helped him into his bed, shoving a pillow beneath his head. 

He was practically unconscious and she really doubted he would remember all of this come morning. Not if his fever spiked even more than it already had. So she didn’t leave him. Right in the heart of Peggie homeland under their noses and she was keeping watch over their prophet.

It was a death wish if he wasn’t lying in bed passed out, small groans of discontent slipping out from parted lips every few seconds. That drew some reserve of sympathy from her whenever he flipped and turned in his sleep. Unable to find comfort until her hand brushed over his cheek, rubbing at the clammy skin that burned her. 

It was like that that she found some solace, no matter how small it really was. With him appearing more human and weak, a man that could be taken down and not really as untouchable as everyone believed, that her faith shook. Her walls dropped just that meager amount to him, and when he woke in the morning to find her still there, he would know just as she did that her mind had started to shift, the smallest acceptance had crept into her brain and really that was all he needed for his own Faith to be restored.


	45. PolySeed/Rook Tease

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The deputy unintentionally blue balling the Seeds

“She’s gotta know.”

“Maybe she’s an oblivious fuck.”

“No.”

Jacob barked a laugh, lips quirked up as he glanced over to where John stood, eyes pouring out over a map he had on pinned on the wall. “And why is that not an option?”

“You haven’t met her, you haven’t seen our interactions, if I were any more overt I would have to pull her fucking pants down and beg.”

“And have you tried that?”

At the quiet silence that followed Jacob veered his eyes away from the paperwork he had on his desk. John’s back was facing him, he was shifting uneasily on his feet, hands crossed tight behind him. “You’re scaring me here John.”

He sighed, heavy and loud as he turned on his heel. “It crossed my mind. Yes.” He scowled when Jacob laughed again, tossing down his pen because there was no way he was getting work done with John moping around. “Joseph didn’t care for that idea.”

Jacob nodded, a hand propping up his chin, “Can’t imagine why Johnny.”

“Don’t patronize me!”

His lips tipped up, “Where’s your girl now?”

“Our girl,” John corrected softly, grabbing a chair on the other side of the desk, “Joseph said she’s ours.” He frowned when Jacob only waved him off with a shrug with a signal for him to just answer the question.

“Joseph is talking to her at the church. He said that maybe he can make sense of it all. Because I sure as hell can’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I was a perfect gentleman, I brought her into my bedroom after a very nice meal if I do say so myself, I even let her borrow my clothes to sleep in.”

Jacob grabbed at his pen, twirling it around his fingers as he listened, a smile stuck on his lips. “Yeah? It was romantic huh? And what’d you two do to cap off the night?”

John leaned forward, forearms resting on the wood of the desk as he went to grab Jacob’s arm, anger searing outward. “We slept.” He paused, letting those words sink in when Jacob huffed out a sound of amusement. “She thanked me for a great night, rolled over and fell asleep.”

“Did ya at least get a kiss goodnight?”

He stood fast, legs knocking the chair over on the floor with a loud thud. “I’m done with you. You’re not taking this seriously. You don’t understand my frustration, not when I used every suave move known to man.”

“Maybe you’re not her type.”

John laughed, moving to grab his trenchcoat that he left on Jacob’s bed. “And you are?”

“Or Joseph. Send her over if neither you or Joe can get through to her. I’ll show her a good time.”

“Fuck you Jacob.” He rolled the muscles in his neck, grabbing at the door handle. “But fine.”

*****

Joseph offered a smile, only partly listening to Rook’s well intentioned words of gratitude. She was extending her thanks to him and his brothers for being so nice to her in the past weeks. It would’ve been sweet if not for him being well aware for what her true purpose was in Hope County.

Standing by the side of him and his family. Though she seemed hell bent on keeping their relationship platonic, professional at best with her role as deputy. As she rambled on, a hand squeezing at Joseph’s bare arm, he could suddenly see why John had run to him with angry pleas on his lips.

The woman was already driving him mad and he had only spent an hour with her. He’d have to congratulate John’s self control if the events of the other night were true. To have such a soft woman lying in bed only a foot away, Joseph would be lying if he said that it would be easy to deny her. Even now, with her petting over him and leaning in close, it was hard not to persuade her with cloaked words that she was more to their family than a friend from the sheriff's department that would come in handy down the road if they found themselves on the wrong side of an accusation.

“Any way I can repay you Father, just ask.”

He coughed, turning away when he felt his cheeks burn just a little bit. “Anything? That’s generous of you.” He acknowledged softly, grabbing at her hand to stop their progress when her finger tips wandered too close to his nipple. “I have something in mind, something to solidify your loyalty.” He bowed his head, eyes suddenly tracing the floor, not wanting to look at her when just the thought of her agreeing made him want to test the boundaries of her self control. “A baptism, it would only take a minute.”

Rook was already nodding, lips curving up in a smile as she confirmed that, yes, she’d be more than happy to appease him, more than happy for him to lead her wherever he thought best.

Though in hindsight, maybe Joseph shouldn’t have been the one to do it. Perhaps he should have called John, or maybe it would’ve been a good idea if he had surrounded himself with his flock instead of making this a private affair between the two of them. Because it had been so long since he felt drawn to someone in the way he did with Rook.

He was always afraid God never meant to give him and his brothers someone to watch over them and keep them in check, now that she was here, he was fighting a multitude of sins. Reeling in his deepest desires when he dipped her below the surface of the water only for his eyes to be drawn to the way her dress--the one he insisted she wear--billowed out around her to expose her thighs.

It was truly a sight to behold.

But once again, he shouldn’t have placed himself in this position. Not when he guided her above the surface and she clung to him like a newborn. His forearm pressed flat between her breasts, the ones he could oh so clearly make out beneath the sheer fabric she wore.   

And he really could see  _ everything. _

The stiff peaks of her nipples, poking out in tight, large buds. And the dip of cleavage his eyes tracked when her dress strap slipped down her shoulder, too damn close to revealing her left nipple.

Joseph shifted where he stood in the waist deep water, allowing her time to come to her senses with eyes still closed. That gentle motion had him come to the acute realization of just how hard he was. Not fully erect, but he was getting there. All it would take was for her to glance down and squint through the darkness of the water to make out the shadow of his curved dick in his jeans. His jeans that were already tight when his cock wasn’t straining to get free.

When her eyes fluttered open and her lips pulled in air he flinched under her gaze. A thin smile greeting her.

He pressed his thumb against her forehead, the same as he did before he pushed her under the water. A passage of rights into Eden’s Gate, a seal of approval from The Father himself.

There was a pause in the air before Joseph’s eyes fell again. Following beads of water disappearing between her breasts. In one smooth motion he grabbed her left strap and pulled it up on her shoulder. He squeezed the flesh beneath his hand and ignored the way she shivered.

“T-thank you.” Rook tipped her head down, maybe the first time he’s ever seen her unsure. Though he knew why, he was sure both of them were painfully aware of how exposed she was. “You’re more of a gentleman than most. Thank you.” She whispered the word before leaning in, stepping closer to press a kiss to his cheek.

A gentleman.

If she pressed into him just a little more she would be able to feel the hardness in his jeans, the way he wanted to not be that picture perfect man she claimed him to be.

God help him and his brothers.    

*****

She was all that John promised she would be. A pain in the ass despite the charisma she carried.

“A marksman huh?”

Jacob nodded, a grunt falling from his lips in confirmation to her words. He leaned further back on the headboard of his bed, legs falling open so he could see her better from where she sat on the opposite end. “Only the best for Eden’s Gate.”

He noticed how she at least had the decency to look impressed. Whether that was feigned or not, he wasn’t sure. She was leaning forward, too close to him to be friendly, a trait Joseph and John had told him about an hour before she arrived. Though that message was veiled with snide words coming from the youngest. “ _ It doesn’t mean anything, she’s a damn tease.” _

Jacob was starting to wonder if she knew what she was doing. No way, not with how wide and innocent her eyes were. Not once dropping to the tight line where his dick curved in his jeans. Always honed in on his face, showing interest in the stupid war stories probably too gory for what his family expected him to speak about when luring her in. It had been too damn long since he had to woo someone. He wasn’t about to sweep her off his feet the way John had done.

_ Tried to do _ . He hid a smile behind his hand, scratching through his bead. Seeing how her eyes followed his fingers lost in his facial hair. Lingering up to his face to take in the burns before moving down to his arms. Tracking the splotchy marks and never fully healed scabs.

“Do they hurt?” Spoken quietly, in a mere whisper. She was giving him the same rapt attention she had before, always so so eager to learn and please.

If she was truly impressed with his soldier status, ready to dole out sympathy from the burns and scars that lingered from his past, then he could definitely work with that. He was an old pro at finding people’s weaknesses. It was a habit he had picked up, a trait that kept him alive.

Jacob shrugged, drawing his hand up to chew at a loose hangnail on his thumb. There was a beat of silence before he reached over the edge of the bed to grab at something, spilling it onto his lap before answering. “Sometimes.” He could tell he caught her attention with his sudden movement, that she had scooted closer to him, positioning herself so she was almost sitting between his legs.

“Utility belt.” He murmured softly, soft enough that she was forced to lean closer to hear. Her hand pressed flat to his knee, holding herself up so she didn’t fall in his lap as she looked over the strap of leather he had spread out. “Got it from a friend back in Iraq. Miller.” Jacob paused, shifted where he sat as he tipped his head towards her. “A good man, couple years older than I was, acted like a mentor I guess. Wanted me to have something to remember him by, claimed it gave him good luck, kept him alive.”

She nodded once, eyes caught with something between awe and reverence. Maybe she wasn't faking being impressed. It’d be hard to act that well when her hands brushed across the knives held inside the belt with a smile curling her lips up.  

“Can I see it on you?”

_ Oh.  _ That’s how it was gonna be then?

Jacob chuckled lowly, a dark sound that made her pupils dilate when she pulled away, allowing him room to stand. “Course, mind helping me?”

She puffed out a heavy breath, squirming to get off the bed to follow him. Pausing when his hand pressed on her shoulder and he jerked his head to the floor. “You’re a tiny thing,” He tipped her chin up with a single finger, “You’d help better down there.”

If she saw anything sexual about being on her knees in front of him, eye level with his crotch, she definitely didn’t show it. Her eyes were curious, nothing more. Only waiting for instructions, he bit back the praise he was aching to give her if just to see how she’d respond. Wanting to be the one to break her in a way that his brothers couldn’t.

He dangled out the belt by the tips of his fingers, passing it off to her with arms crossed over his chest. He waited patiently until she shuffled forward on her knees, getting close enough to reach around his waist and slip it on him. Her teeth were sunk into her bottom lip in concentration.

“Like this?” She asked softly, cheek pressed into his stomach, knuckles brushing at the scarred expense of his lower back as she tightened it around him.  

“Exactly like that,” Jacob confirmed, a hand reaching down to brush over her head, not really ignoring how she was so damn close to the bulge in his jeans, large even when soft. And once again, if she knew how affected he was, ready to pin her down when her hand brushed over that area, she never showed it. Only blinked at him sweetly as she stood, rocking on her heels with a faint smile.

Jacob clenched his teeth, shaking his head as he placed his hands on his hips, “Guess John was right.”

“About?” Her head cocked to the side, confusion making her brow dip low.

“You really are an oblivious fuck.”

The wide eyed stare he got in return was all he really needed to send her out his office door, phone already in hand with John answering on the first ring with an exasperated “Well?” in form of hello.

“We stick with this one brother--all three of us--we’re gonna get a clinically bad case of blue balls.”

John’s laughter was the only response given, the kind of answer that he didn’t need to express verbally.

They’d put up with her until either they went sterile or they had to pin her down and tell her what they wanted.


	46. Joseph/Rook Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph and the Deputy being in the bunker, and Joseph catches the Deputy masturbating. Things get awkward and they try to ignore each other for a couple of days. Until the Deputy accidentally catches Joseph masturbating in the shower and she decides to help him out.

It was the first time she heard Joseph Seed curse.

The muffled sound of his voice, low and rough, didn’t catch her attention until there was the added noise of the shifting of his feet--moving too quick as he backpedaled from their shared room--sounded out on the cement floor.

“Christ Rook.” The blasphemy that fell from his lips should’ve been sign enough on exactly just how horrified he was.

As he should be, walking in on her with splayed thighs and a hand buried between her folds, working furiously as her hips jerked up into her touch. Desperate for any sort of pleasure.

The scream she let out was close to a yelp, something high pitched and sudden that made Joseph jolt, shoulders pulling up tight around his neck, stumbling as he retreated back into the hallway. Making it a point to have his back towards her, a hand shielding his eyes from the sight he walked in on.

“Are you---Can you please make yourself decent?”

She didn’t need any other incentive than that to scramble off the bed. Knees shaking as she gathered her clothes, moving  _ quickquickquick,  _ cheeks flushed red just as she was sure Joseph’s were.

Should she apologize? ‘Hey, sorry I didn’t tell you not to come bother me while I fucked myself on my fingers, It won’t happen again?’ No, no somehow that’d make things so much worse.

“Joseph--”

He held up a hand to stop her, wincing away when he caught a glimpse of her on the edge of his vision. He ran his eyes over her hesitantly from where she was perched on the bed, there was something in his gaze that had her more embarrassed than she initially was. Disgust and revulsion, though she expected that. But help her God there was another emotion buried under that making the heat in low in her stomach flare up.

“I don’t need to hear any explanation Rook. I know what I saw, I’m a man of forty, I don’t want excuses.”

“And I don’t need to be lectured like a child.” She snapped back, chin tipping higher in a false display of bravery. Not like she had the upper hand, they both felt that. “It’s normal.”

He sighed at her words. Turning away from her fully with arms held behind his back. Laced tight into fists with anger. “Perhaps I should treat you as a child after this display, maybe you need the guidance of a father. Is that what you lack?” Said more to himself than as a question to be answered.

He was gone before the shoe she threw his way had reached the empty air where he once stood. Banging against the wall with a dull thud and only serving to reinforce what he had just said. Childish and immature.

“Stupid fucking abstinent pious cult leader.”

Rook fell back on the bed, lying down to ignore the thrumming need still very apparent between her legs. “Fucking hell,” she didn’t risk shoving her hand back down her hastily thrown on pants, even with the sound of the shower coming through the bunker walls. 

The first thing she noticed when they got down here was the lack of doors, only flimsy sheets that could be pulled aside. It was too damn risky, especially when Joseph knew how to sneak up on her like a cat. 

She’d just have to wait until something gave. Either his morals or how much she cared.

Somehow though, even after the interaction they had and with the knowledge of him seeing everything she had to offer, she thought their contained lives would go right back to normal. They’d never talk about it, but they could keep the polite soft spoken bullshit they’ve had going for months now. But of course it couldn’t be like that, that’d be too easy. Every gesture and sideways glance shared between them bordered on a type of caution that made her stomach tie up in knots.

They were both walking on eggshells. Even with Joseph’s show of bravado when he caught her in the act, now that it was said and done with a week passed he was still avoiding her eyes. Not catching her gaze and forcing eye contact at the dinner table like she was used to.

Late at night when they laid down to rest, he kept his back to her, almost falling off the bed with how far he was, it was a strange show of space placed between them. His prayers were more fervent come nighttime too, and if she was honest, he was starting to scare her.

That’s why she avoided him, kept out of his line of sight as if that would make him forget that moment he walked in on her with cries of ecstasy falling out of her mouth.

It’d take a goddamn miracle to break the tension that still lingered whenever they were in the same room. Something had to give.

*****

In her defense, the shower wasn’t on. Her mind was somewhere else when she woke up that morning feeling more than a little frustrated. She’s also like to point out that there was no sound coming from the bathroom, then again, there was no sign of Joseph anywhere in the bunker either.

Not that she thought much of that when she slipped inside the dim room. The sight that she got when he head tipped up for only half a moment was quite an eyeful.

Joseph was bare, back pressed against the wall with the shower curtain pulled wide open. Like he was debating getting out and grabbing the towel that hung loosely from a hook on the wall. It didn’t look like he got too far into his thought process.

His head was tipped back, exposing his neck. And he hand was dropped low, palming at himself. Rutting into his hand and grabbing at his cock with a tight fist. Thrusting, pulling at his flesh with fervor.

The gasp she let out was audible in the enclosed space, heard even over his own broken moans. Muted only by his teeth clenched together. A pitiful attempt really.

His eyes flicked up for a brief second, jumping towards her when she made way too much noise for what was supposed to be a moment saved for himself and no one else.

For the second time since knowing Joseph Seed, she heard him curse. It was loud and rough, a series of words that tumbled free and made her backtrack just one step. Scared of the sudden outburst breaking from his normally calm demeanor.

In no way would she ever consider him a violent man, but the look in his eyes at that moment said otherwise. “Are we making this a habit Rook?” His hand fell limp by his side, leaving his cock hanging hard between his thighs--she certainly was not looking down, honing in on the angry lines formed around his mouth and not the fat head of his dick.

His other hand grabbed at the meat of his thigh, nails biting into his skin in substitution for finishing himself off.

“At least answer me Child.” He tipped his chin up high, looking all in the world like he wasn’t affected by this in the slightest.

Rook opened her mouth, closing it again when nothing came to mind in the first few seconds. She let out a sigh, regaining footing with her hand braced on the wall. “A habit?” She swallowed, wincing at the harsh feeling of her dry mouth. “M’not trying to make it one. Wouldn’t be mad if that’s what happened.” Her cheeks burned at her own comment, trying too hard for levity, for teasing off all things, when the view she had of him bared before her had her reeling, so ready to strip down like she had done a week before.

“I don’t need help.” He laughed softly, head moving down to stare at the tiles. “And I don’t need to form any sinful routines.”

“You sure about that?” She took another step forward, eyes finally dropping down to his dick, which hadn’t softened in the slightest. There was a thick bead of precum welling up on his cockhead, it was an angry red, leaking and crying out for attention. “Looks like you need something.”

Joseph pulled himself out of the shower before she could decide what to do, baby blues lidded when they fell on her. He stepped in close to her space, hands--badly shaking hands--moved to hold her shoulders. Their heads tapped in a gesture of affection. They stood like that for several moments, with them sharing their breaths, before he made a move.

He placed a finger under her chin to tip it up. Brushing their lips lightly, not a real kiss, only something done to sate the urge growing in his stomach, curling low and making a warmth spread through his body.

It was just the kind of thing they needed to break that tension. Such a simple action was all that was needed to open the floodgates.


	47. Joseph/Rook Tattoos and Photographs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Married to Joseph for three years now, Rook finds a photo of his deceased wife

_ “She’s beautiful hm?” His fingers lingered across his forearm, brushing over one of the many tattoos that littered his skin. He was right in that stated fact, the way she was captured in ink had her looking flawless. A thin face with long hair that covered one of her eyes, fitted with plush lips that were unsmiling.  _

_ But yes, his wife, gone for almost twenty years, was gorgeous from what Rook could tell.  _

_ There was a lump in her throat that was hard to talk past, so instead she deigned on just nodding. Leaning in closer from where she sat on the couch, forearms on her knees as she gazed at his skin. She brushed his own hand aside to rub at it, pulling him off of where he sat across from her on the coffee table until he was half in her lap.  _

_ Rook felt his eyes on her when he leaned back on his elbows, sinking down into the cushions with his legs laying on top of hers, dangling off the edge. He was waiting for an answer, something to ease the concern that made his brow crease in the center. “Bet you two made a beautiful pair.” _

_ And she could imagine it, she could see them walking down the street out for a walk while window shopping, barely enough money to sustain themselves from the way Joseph talked about his past. They were normal, young and full of life, at a pivotal moment in their lives where they were just beginning to grow into adults. _

_ Joseph hummed lightly, reaching out to grab her hand and pull them to his lips. His tongue snuck out to lave over a knuckle. “I see that look you have darling. Don’t worry about me, it’s in the past now. I’ve made amends with what has happened in my life thus far.” _

That’s where he left it that night. He yanked her closer to his body and they curled up on that too small couch with her head resting on his chest, hearing the pounding of his steady heartbeat. A hand tangled in her hair, rubbing small circles until she drifted off.

Life went on.

Despite the sadness that she saw sweep over his face that she now could pinpoint the source of--life went on.

As much as she wanted to bring it up, to sit him down and just talk, she couldn’t do that to him. He told her it was in the past, it wouldn’t do any good to bring up that shit. Not that she wasn’t curious, ever since he felt confident enough to tell him about his wife, dead and gone from reasons he hadn’t revealed yet, she was aching to know more.

Some days it seemed like she didn’t know her husband at all. He was a man wrapped in mystery, protected by the secrets he carried close to his heart the same as his brothers.

She desperately wanted that to change.

Early next morning, before the sun had a chance to rise, well before the birds began their songs, she woke to slip out of bed quietly. Untangling herself from Joseph, giving a parting kiss on his cheek, maybe as an apology for what she was about to do. Because there was no question in her mind that he didn’t want him to know too much of his past.

And yet she let herself creep into the attic with slow footsteps, careful to skip the top step, knowing from memory of how it creaked.

It had been almost two years since she had been in that enclosed space. Time had not been kind. A thin layer of dust had settled over everything, making the air thick when she breathed in. The lack of light wasn’t helping things. Serving to make her stumble around on hands and knees until she could grasp what she was looking for.

There was a mixture of their shared items in that attic. Packed away in boxes when they moved in, things they never bothered to bring out into their combined life. The amount of stuff he had was so small it was easy to locate what she was searching for.

It was a light purple color that was the size of a shoe box. It was light too, making her slam back on her rear when she lifted it, for some reason expecting it to be full.

This was the inkling of his life she could get a glimpse of before he moved to Hope County, before he set up as a preacher and met her, she had thought it’d be almost overflowing. Bursting with life and potential.

All she found when she lifted the lid with shaking fingertips--because this was wrong and an invasion of privacy and she knew this--was a collection of papers. Ranging from letters to pictures to some official documents she’d need more light to make out properly.    __

She set everything aside, focusing on the photos. She could just barely make them out from the light coming from the moon, spilling inside with the help of an uncovered window to her left.

The first one she held was torn at the edge, the only sign of wear and tear. But it was well loved. And she could tell why. It showed what she could assume was his brothers. The likeness was there, disguised well by youth. Joseph had to be the one taking the picture, or maybe a parent? There were two boys sitting in frame, though it was poorly taken, like the children didn’t know they were being photographed.

Even if she didn’t know the context of the picture, she could almost  _ feel  _ it. Somber and bleak. Maybe it was the stress outlining the eldest’s face, which was partially obscured by hair, hair that verged on being red but showed signs of turning a dark brown. The ratty clothes he was wearing didn’t help the mood. Nor did the dirty floor he was sitting on in the equally dirty house she could see. What changed the whole thing was the baby he cradled in his arms.

Not exactly an infant, old enough that Rook could tell it was a little boy, arms held up in the air and legs kicked out. His face scrunched up in displeasure at whatever situation they were in.

It suddenly felt much harder to breath.

Rook placed that one to the side, eyes lingering on it for half a second before she moved onto the next. And that was more what she was looking for. It made her smile, momentarily forgetting about the picture she just saw when this carried a whole different tone.

Joseph was there, twenty years younger. Crows feet not visible, hairline not yet receding, and he looked happy. Wearing an atrocious Hawaiian shirt with a forest background framing him. She held that close to her chest before grabbing at another picture from random.

She paused, fingers tightening on what she held. From the looks of it this picture was the most well kept. The color barely fading from where someone had rubbed their thumbs across the sides.

It was hard not to recognize the woman. Not when a week earlier Joseph had pulled Rook in close and lowered her down to the couch as he reclined back on their coffee table to show off a similar tattoo he held close to heart.

The stranger was even more beautiful when she wasn’t drawn in ink. With coffee colored hair and eyes that Rook couldn’t pinpoint whether or not were blue or green. Her hair was pulled up in a loose fitting bun, held by a large bright red scrunchie, so very unlike the way she was drawn on Joseph’s skin. She was more lively, excited almost.

Rook held that one equally as close as the picture of Joseph. She placed them both in her lap, moving onto the documents she could see the start of with the lowering moon being substituted for a bright sun.

The first few were old bills paid off years ago that she couldn’t fathom why he had. The lease to houses he must’ve owned at one point or another somehow. Legal papers for the land him and his brothers purchased in the last three years, a birth certificate with the name Joseph N. Seed, accompanied with his parents names scribbled above. She moved on from that, the only thing learned was the identity of the rest of his family.

The next paper, faded worn and stained with water damage and what looked like a spilt drink, was something that gave her pause. It was paper clipped to something else, paper the color of parchment.

A birth certificate. As strange as that was, she nodded once, almost in quiet acceptance.

And a death certificate. Two death certificates. One whose birth date matched up with a 26 year old woman with the name Caroline. Rook should have been content with that information. Now the woman had a name and a proper face. Really that was all she was looking for. That’s what sparked this curiosity. So why the fuck didn’t she stop?

She wished she had the foresight to gather up all that she scattered before her to place it back where it rightfully belonged. She could have crept back down stairs to leave the bleakness of the attic just to be back in Joseph’s arms. Maybe she would have gotten another hour of sleep.

But that second death certificate. It caught her eye, made her wonder who else in his life he lost, even if it wasn’t any of her business.

The name written out on a dotted line had her squinting to make out the rest of the writing to make sure she was seeing it right.

_ Eva J. Seed _

_ DOB 6-21-95 _

_ Father...Joseph N. Seed _

That was fine. That wasn’t incriminating. There wasn’t anything wrong with him not wanting to talk about the fully functioning family he once had.

What was wrong about that was the journal she was skimming through. Written out in Joseph’s curly handwriting that she had to squint to read. It looks like it was written in haste with a shaking hand. Maybe that had something to do with just what it was that he was writing about.

Murder. Fucking murder in the worse kind of ways. One hell of a confession really. And that was incriminating. Speaking in black and white ways in how he clamped down on that clear plastic tube taped to her mouth until her arms and legs flailed in a last fight for her life, he held down until she went still. He stayed calm when he walked out while nurses rushed in, set off by the heart monitor by her side. He disappeared to Hope County with his brothers.

He found her. Deputy Rook, all wide eyed and naive, so ready to love and be loved.

The alarm clock going off somewhere down below is what spurred her into action.

Her hands tightened around the paper, not bothering to read on, what would be the point of that? Everything was shoved back into that godforsaken box. It was slammed shut and slid across the floor to bang into the small amount of other things Joseph had brought with him from his past life.

She moved fast, heart pounding wildly as she took the steps two at a time to make it to their bedroom. The shower was running, door closed with a sliver of light peeking through the bottom.

Rook had to continue her life, she was meant to look her husband in the eyes knowing off all that he lost, of the things he was accused of. This was the man who had spoke of having kids of his own one day, this man wanted to be a part of her life in every sense of the word.

She had to leave. She was already on the floor, reaching under the bed to grab at the suitcase that she hasn’t used since college. Clothes were thrown in haphazardly. Her wallet and passport were held tight in her hand, her only way out if she really intended to leave. Because something was wrong. 

Whatever else Joseph was hiding was wrong. And dangerous, that’s all she knew. She didn’t need to look back on all the warning signs years from now just to tell herself she should have left before it was too late.   

Joseph would make do without her, he has for quite some time now it would seem. She’d just have to pray he wasn’t crazy enough to come find her.


	48. Joseph/Rook Allergies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook having an allergic reaction to the bliss

It was scratching at her throat, making every single swallow hell. Every breath she took irritated her lungs, making her chest ache something fierce. Her heart was  _ pounding.  _ Moving at an erratic rate that had her stop dead in her tracks, terrified that the muscle in her chest was ready to give out. And goddamn it she just couldn’t afford that. 

The last time she checked, Faith’s bloodthirsty mutants that she had the nerve to call Angels of all things, were on her tail. Ready to grab at her with long, dirty fingernails or whack her over the head with a shovel twice the size of her head.

It was fucking dangerous, the whole Henbane was a no zone. Nowhere to seek refuge and nowhere to call home out of fear for Faith finding their den and filling the entire area with her drug of choice.

The same one that John had used during her baptism.

The hazy green solution diluted into the water that made her head spin so bad she couldn’t stand up. Hell, she even saw concern in John’s eyes for a moment there. That was back when she didn’t know what they called the chemical in the water. Now she knew, she was more than fucking aware because it was all she could focus on at the moment as she stumbled to a halt. Legitimately scared that this is what would kill her.

Surely the sudden heat that engulfed her body wasn’t normal. Nor were the hives that broke out along her arms and exposed calves.

“Goddamn bliss.”

That’s what Dutch had called it when she crossed the line between Holland Valley and the Henbane. So desperate to get away from John before he could mark her up like he’s done to more than half the people who populated his region. She didn’t think it could get worse than him. Even with the warning Dutch sent her way.

_ Don’t listen to Faith. She’s a liar and a manipulator, someone who makes you believe every word she says is true. _

Rook had briefly wondered how the woman managed to do such a thing. At least she had an answer now. Though maybe a little too late. Because whatever flowed through the rivers and lakes was so watered down that it only made white tiny sparkles fill her vision, giving her a fuzzy feeling in her stomach. It almost felt like she was high. But the powder Faith had sprayed in her face before shoving her in the direction of her Angels was a whole different monster. One capable of making her drop dead before the fight with Little Sister even began.

She collapsed, finally. Accepted the cold embrace of the ground. Uncaring if something was coming up on her ready to tear her limb from limb. It’d be far more merciful than what the Seed family could do to her.

“Rook?”

She curled further in on herself, tightening up into a ball on her side. Groaning low in her throat when rough hands turned her over.

“Rook, can you open your eyes for me?” As much as she could manage she shook her head no. She recognized that voice. That made her wonder if Joseph suddenly gained the ability to teleport, Faith was the one who fucked up her day, surely she would have seen Joseph tagging along.  

Yet the man was kneeling before her, pushing hair out of her eyes and cradling the back of her neck with a look of pure worry on his face. His eyes were wide and wild, something that actually scared her even in her pained state. The one man who shouldn't be scared of the bliss’s effects should be The Father.

“We need to move you.” He was already helping her up, hands moving lightly to make her sit up. “Can you walk?”

Rook whined in response. Eyes slamming shut as she crashed into Joseph’s chest, too weak to hold herself up. 

He sighed softly, a small puff of air that tickled the hair on her head when he pulled her closer. “I can’t carry you.” Whispered in something that was almost an apology as he shifted onto his knees, grabbing her firmly under her arms to heave her body weight up. 

She kicked at his shins, fists balled up to pound down on his bare chest. “I know Rook, I know. You’re strong and you don’t want help. You don’t want to accept Eden’s Gate either. I know this.” He soothed, pulling her close and taking a single step. Moving to walk farther when she didn’t immediately fall. “You’re sick. Dying maybe. Something with the bliss…” He trailed off, visibly shaking his head to clear his thought.

“I’ll take care of you. I was the one who did this to you, it’s the least I can offer.”

“Faith did this. Faith blew it in my face.”

He clicked his tongue. “And who do you think gave her those orders?” He kept his head down, focused solely on walking. “The bliss helps people see--normally--it was meant to guide you when our previous attempts have failed. This only seemed to make things worse.”

“You think?” She coughed into the crook of his neck, knees turning into jelly and bringing both of them to the ground in an instant.

Lucky for her, he cushioned her fall. Taking the brunt of it when her legs twisted and made him crumple up beneath her weight. She’d feel bad if he wasn’t the sole reason why she was in this situation. He deserved the pain that she so obviously inflicted on him.

Rook was the first to move, getting up and using him to steady herself with palms laying flat on his chest, she shoved down deliberately, making a groan rise from his throat when she crushed his lungs for a second time.

She swatted at his cheek, scooping up his fallen glasses beside his head to place on her nose as she stood. “Come on old man, thought you’re supposed to be taking care of me. Y’know, saving my life and all.”

There was never a man more pissed than she saw Joseph in that moment. There was a flicker of anger across his face, mingled in with brief annoyance when he dusted his pants off as he stood, grabbing her upper arm to drag her forward.

She swore he was muttering under his breath, though that could’ve been the bliss making her hear things.

“I am taking you to my compound, letting you see my doctor and by the end of the night I am leaving you on the side of the road and I do not want to see you again until a week from now.” He paused when they reached the side of the road, nearing the car he must've been traveling in. “That’s all I ask for in return Rook, a week without your nonsense. Do you think you can manage that feat?”

Rook tipped her head to the side, considering as her hands fumbled with opening the door. “M’kay. On one condition.”

“Are you in any position to be setting terms on---”

She pressed a finger to his lips, stopping his speech mid sentence. “I get to keep your glasses.” She whispered it like it was a secret. Ignoring the wide eyed stare he was giving her.

“Fine. For heaven’s sake. Yes, that’s fine. Take them.” He all but threw her in the backseat, gaze lingering over the rash on her arms and the paleness on her face. “But so help me God, If you break our deal, I’ll personally hunt you down and smash those sunglasses myself Rook.”

 


	49. PolySeed/Rook Envy Headcanons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the Seeds would handle jealousy over Rook

**Jacob**

  * Surprisingly jealousy isn’t a new feeling for Jacob
  * Sure, not in the way that a relationship is concerned, but when he was younger it was the one thing he felt 50% of the time, besides anger. He saw what other kids had that he didn’t, the kind of life he couldn’t give provide his brothers with. So when he first felt that stab of jealousy towards Rook, he recognized it.  
  * Sorta had the attitude of ‘for fuck’s sake, not this again,’ almost like he was just done with it. He didn’t want to deal with having to feel jealous. Because for as long as he could store such feelings, envy turned into anger real quick.
  * He’d be mad at whoever was going after the deputy in the same way he was, but he’d also take that anger out on her.
  * More frequent radio calls, taunts of having her back to him at the press of a button. The usual, just him sounding more stressed. 
  * Under all that anger and envy would be concern. Worried that she would slip through his fingers like every other good opportunity in his life. Not that he would admit that to anyone, even his brothers have a problem figuring out what’s wrong. But when he is around his family he does let his guard down and it is so obvious something is bothering him.
  * He just doesn’t have the gall to admit it. Love is weakness, makes your brain turn to mush in his eyes. Makes people stupid and ready to put themselves on the line. 



 

“You really think you’re that special, huh deputy? Think you can run around doing whatever the fuck you want with...who is it you’re running around with now? I’ve been watching you closely for the past couple of weeks, and let me tell you something honey, they’re making you weaker. And here I was, foolishly believing I could build you up into something beautiful. I’m disappointed really. But you know what? I’ve always liked a challenge, and I’ve had this feeling lately that you could be my star pupil. I’ll see ya soon deputy, I’d hate to keep you waiting.”

 

**John**

  * John needs people to know what he owns. Hence the large YES sign overlooking the valley. Everything in that Valley is his, he has total ownership. Which of course includes the deputy. So first things first, people need to know.
  * Obviously a video broadcast is in order. He’s made productions before, talking about sin directed towards those he has marked. This time around it’d focus on having everyone who it sitting in front of a tv to understand that Rook belongs to him.
  * If anyone calls him out for his display of envy he is bound to react one of two ways. Either immediate anger and denial. With him getting close to their face and snarling out his words mixed with threats on how it wasn’t their job to point out people’s sin, that they weren’t God. Or he would freeze, in utter shock of what he was hearing. He’d stand there in contemplation with a look of disbelief and horror on his face. Honestly he never thought of it like that before, he was blinded in a way. He’d smile and thank whoever it was for helping him come to such a realization.
  * Not like any of that would help the situation. He’d still be jealous. And he couldn’t let things be, he needed to find a solution to fix that ugly feeling inside of him. Which means, of course, for the next order of business. Capturing the deputy. Bringing her into his bunker to lock her in one of the many cells he has meant for the people going through confessions and atonement. 
  * That’s where she would stay for as long as he could manage to keep her there. After all, if she was down in his bunker than she couldn’t be with whoever had made him jealous in the first place. Problem solved.
  * Not that Joseph thought that way, but John was fine with the displeased words of his brother if it meant he could keep his eye on Rook until she came around and saw the light. 



 

“I don’t like that look in your eyes dear. Makes me wonder...no, you can’t truly hate me. Not after I went through all the trouble of saving you from that...that scoundrel. That sinner who was driving you in a dangerous direction that I was beginning to fear not even someone like me could save you from. We don’t have to worry about them now though, because when the world goes up in smoke, I’ll be all you have left. And maybe you’ll remember how I saved you from damnation. For now, I’ll just have to be content with knowing you’re safe from the world, that will have to suffice until I can hold you in my arms like I was meant to.” 

 

**Joseph**

  * Joseph prays the first time he feels even the slightest inkling of envy. He looks in the mirror at where that word is etched into his skin on his lower back and gets a loyal follower to underline it for him as a reminder. 
  * He wasn’t above sin, no one was, but he was supposed to be a paragon for people to look up to. So he tries his hardest to nip that right in the bud before it spirals out of control.
  * Even takes the time to confess to Rook, right after the confession from John which didn’t seem to help. Besides from the occasion when she destroyed his statue, it’s really the first time since he’s personally contacted her via radio.
  * She lets him ramble for once, and for that, he is thankful. Glad she’s willing to listen to his insane speech until he is breathless
  * That fixes things for about a week.
  * Then he’s back to denying those awful feelings bubbling up inside him as he tries to lead the masses.
  * The envy he feels for whoever has Rook’s attention is eventually what makes him a messy leader with a loose set of morals.It has him sending out capture parties and hunters more often for her friends just to get her attention, to hold something above her head to make her realize that he’s serious.
  * Won’t admit the reason why he took her friends was because of his jealousy, adamantly denies it even when his own brothers ask out of concern.



 

“I’m feeling some kind of way about you Rook. It’d be enough to drive any man mad. That’s what you’re doing to me when you run around with that sinner who is amongst the few people who still oppose me. Are you aware of what you’re doing? Do you know how it’s tearing me up inside, that you are driving me closer to sin with each passing day? I don’t want to make threats towards you, that’d be below my character, but you should hear me when I tell you that we are approaching something very dangerous soon. If you don’t change your ways and whom you choose to spend your time around, you’ll be the one forcing my hand on whatever action I next commit.”

 


	50. John/Rook I Gave It All To You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yandere!John, where he’s getting impatient for his "bride” Rook to see things his way.

“Where did you think you were gonna run off to?” He paced back and forth, hands curled into fists behind his back. His eyes flicked towards her when she remained silent, watching her twiddle her thumbs in her lap with a downed head. “I have these county lines closed off, my men are stationed there, protecting that area, making sure anyone who’s unauthorized does not go anywhere where they shouldn’t.”

John paused in his movements, stopping in the middle of their bedroom to stalk forward until he was standing in front of her. He grabbed at her throat, forcing her head to rise until they were inches apart. “You need to get it in that pretty head of yours that you aren’t going anywhere. Especially not in your state.”

His hand dropped from her neck to her stomach. Rubbing at the bulge there with a softness in his eyes. “I’ve given you everything you need, darling. Love, protection, and the start of a new family for the collapse.” He kissed her gently, smiling into it when she didn’t recoil like she once had done weeks ago. “What more could you want from me?”

She sucked in deep, letting out a sigh that was barely audible. Rook avoided his eyes as much as she could manage. Trying to reign in her thoughts to think of saying something that wasn’t bound to make him angry. Because three years into her capture and she knew John Seed well. She’s had the pleasure of seeing him at his worse, looking into his mind and peeling back each layer of the complicated bundle of nerves he was. 

“Freedom would be nice.”

He laughed, a sound that was too manic and high pitched as he stepped away from her. His hands laid flat on his hips as he surveyed the room. “You have the gall to reject me still. I’ve been nice, I have given you time to adjust. I put food on the table, a roof over your head and clothes on your back. Much better than the life you had running amuck out there.” His head jerked over to the open window. The same window he had just caught her trying to climb out of. 

She had worked for months sawing off the metal bars that he placed over her only way out. Months of work only for him to walk in at just the right time to grab at her waist and wrangle her back inside with almost superhuman strength. 

She’d be impressed if she wasn’t so damn angry.

Or maybe she should be scared, since John had really been lenient before now. All those other times where she had been sulking around with fists flying his way and snapping teeth whenever he went to kiss her, he never once punished her. He never harmed her the way she did to him.

That cool exterior seemed to crack now. The calm, collected, picture perfect husband was breaking away into the kind of crazy she was used to seeing years back when she was the figurehead of the resistance. 

“Joseph will want to speak to us. He has been watching you closer than I have on the rare occasions where you’ve been in the same room with him. He’s not happy.” John concluded with a cynical smile. He held out a hand to her, crooking them in a gesture for her to come to him.

She knew to listen. If she refused in the slightest he had no problem forcing her. 

*****

Joseph speaking to them led her into the deepest parts of John’s bunker. Locked away like some damsel in distress, stuck with the rest of Hope County’s future generation who weren’t able to survive up above when war was being waged. It was filled with expectant mothers and children under the age of 21. All those who had been brainwashed by Eden’s Gate so long ago, but she assumed that if she made the effort to get to know some of them she’d eventually find someone who had been forced into it all just like her. 

She tried to keep to herself for the most part. They didn’t make that easy. Because everyone knowing the child she was carrying belonged to one of the Heralds only made her new life worse. John was the one who made the fact clear to everyone. 

They were like excited birds when they heard the news, hounding her with questions and flocking towards her as if the kid she was holding was Christ himself.

Lord knows that if she had the opportunity, that this child--which was fully hers no matter what John liked to think---would be raised as the Devil Incarnate just to prove everyone wrong. They’d wreak havoc the same as she did, carrying out the legacy she was forced to cut short. Even if the crimes were small and petty, she didn’t like to think that these people would be right in thinking that her kid was already a saint.

They’d make John form some fucking wrinkles for once, have Joseph going bald, and if they really put their mind to it they could maybe make Jacob grow a grey hair.

That thought kept her going, as amusing as it was. She planned on raising hell. Victory would be sweet.


	51. PolySeed/Rook Put To Good Use

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lactation Kink

**Jacob**

Jacob had her down on hands and knees before she could question what he was doing. It was too early for his bullshit, and she had half the mind to tell him that. She was cranky and sore all over, with swollen feet and a larger stomach growing wide with their kid.

She wasn’t in the mood to play games.

The glare she shot his way when he crouched down by her side told him as much. It made him chuckle low in his throat as he pet over her head and down her spine with a gentle touch.

“You know where I grew up Rook?”

She hummed, anger still in her eyes. She wanted a shower, maybe a cup of coffee and a chance to brush her teeth. She was starting to think she’s put up with this man for too long.

“Georgia.” He answered smoothly, ignoring her how uncomfortable she was as she shifted on the cold tile. “You knew that, lamb. I’m from the south, even had a chance to work on a farm with my brothers. Our first foster care family.” He laughed again, moving to sit Indian style, glancing behind him for a second before reaching out to grab something that he hid from her view. “They had a barn fulla animals we had to learn to take care of. I Burnt that bitch to the ground.”

“The point Jacob? I’m hoping you didn’t pull me outta bed at 5 in the morning for story time.”

He huffed, shoulders deflating like a petulant child. He bit out a sharp, “Fine,” before twisting to reveal what he had hidden from her. “You’ve been complaining for the past couple of days about those.” He nodded down to her breasts, their weight disguised by one of his shirts she had stolen the night before. “Fucking embarrassed. God only knows why.”

That made her shift to sit on her knees, an angry scowl painted on her lips. “I don’t care what you say Jake, It doesn’t feel normal to just start leaking. It’s gross. I don’t even need it.”

“Our pup will. That’s all for them.”

“They’re not here yet.” She was well aware of how childish she sounded. But they’ve had this conversation before. Right around the time she hid it from him because she didn’t want to see the disgust on his face.

That might’ve been the opposite of what happened, but there was still doubts. Thoughts that lingered about how attractive he found her after she ruined all his shirts when her breasts wouldn’t stop leaking.

Guess he intended to change that.

“If someone needed that milk now, would you be complaining?”

“No.”

“Then get your ass back over here.” Jacob grabbed at her hand, putting her back on hands and knees. His hands moved down to snatch at the hem of her shirt, tugging it over her head and exposing her body to the cool morning air.

His fingertips glided along her ribs, making her shiver when he moved up to tug at one of her nipples. “Been a while since I did this, honey. Give me a minute.” He eyes roved over her chest before he placed down a small metal pail over her breasts.

He was…

Was…

Rook jumped at the first touch of his fingers squeezing her nipples. Tugging lightly and stroking her flesh, coaxing out the milk her body was eager to give.

Jacob was good at it though, as much as she hated to admit that. He was like a proper farm hand, filling up the bucket with tiny droplets, not seeming bothered in the least when her milk got caught on his fingers.

“Look at that, sheep. So fucking good for me. You’re body knows what it wants to give me.” He drew his hands away, sticking two fingers in his mouth to lap up her milk. He let out a soft whistle, a smile making the corners of his lips pull up. “If I ever gets thirsty looks like I got the best goddamn source in all of Hope County. Aren't I a lucky man?”

\------

**John**

“Oh. Oh you like this don’t you?”

John blinked at her from where he sat at the edge of the bed. Watching her carefully with a guarded expression when his eyes dipped down to her bare chest. Tracking lower to her swollen stomach. “Like what?”

Rook laughed softly, shaking her head and gesturing for him to lie next to her where she sat with pillows stacked behind her. There was a teasing smile playing on her lips as he approached her cautiously. Almost like she just  _ knew.  _ As if she could see right through the coy little bullshit act he was putting on.

She’s seen the look he’s been giving her as she's grown bigger. Belly swelling with each passing month as the child inside her that they made was forming. He was into it. Always touching, eyes lingering whenever she was naked, because clothes were restraining and uncomfortable so late into her pregnancy.

The fact that her breasts started leaking milk a few days ago only seemed to add onto whatever feelings he kept locked up in his head.

“All of it.” She answered simply, dragging him in close with an arm thrown over his slim shoulders. He nestled into the crook of her neck, mouthing over the skin there as his hand moved to cup her breast. His thumb swiped back and forth over her nipple, intent on watching how she squirmed and hissed through her teeth when he pinched down roughly.

It only got a bead of milk out of her, her body wouldn’t really be producing anything until three months from now when they actually had a child to nourish.

But it was enough for John.

His cheeks were dusted pink, head tipped down to avoid her probing gaze. As if this newfound kink was just as a surprise to him as it was to her. 

She heard his uneasy inhale as he pressed his index finger passed his lips. John’s mouth opened in a broken groan, revealing the almost translucent fluid on his tongue making its way down his throat.

“S-sorry.” His head slammed down on her chest a second later. Trying so hard to compose himself. Acting like nothing just happened.

“For what John?”

He laughed, tongue flicking out to brush right above her nipple. “All of it.” He parroted her words with a shy glance upward. Not bothering to hide his confusion when she laced her fingers at the nape of his neck to urge him lower. Lower until he got the idea to wrap his lips around her nipple in substitution for his finger.

He caught on quick. Sucked softly, relieving that awful buildup of pressure in her chest that had been steadily mounting over the past week. They were tender and full, needing something that she couldn’t figure out to make her less achy.

She supposed John would help her just fine.

\-------

**Joseph**

She had been in pain for the past week. Barely getting out of bed with how large her stomach had become. Making moving around a living hell. And her swollen feet weren't doing her any favors.

On days like those she was thankful Joseph was around. That he was the kind of husband to at least understand, to look in her eyes and see that this pregnancy was an utter misery for her no matter how much she wanted a child.

He’d sit at the end of the bed rubbing at her feet, digging his palms in to ease some of the tension there. Even if it wasn’t enough, the thought was there. It made breathing easier. Sleep came better too when she wasn’t sore all over.

She only wished he could stop her body from producing milk for a child who wasn’t even in need of it. It made her breasts tender and sore, had them swelling larger with the extra fluid.

It was a nightmare, and she didn’t expect Joseph to understand. Or to be able to help. The most he could offer would be comforting words. 

That’s why she spoke to Faith discreetly at the next sermon Joseph held. She was able to break away from him for a second to voice her concerns to Faith. Shaking her head animatedly at the suggestion of bliss--no telling what that could do to her kid--but instead steering her in the direction of something more normal.

A breast pump.

Something she fully intended to use in a few months time, but it wouldn’t hurt to do it now. To at least help alleviate the pain she was feeling.

That’s where Joseph found her, sitting on their bed with crossed legs and sans shirt. Pump held off to the side with her head bent and hands tangled in her hair. Because  _ fuck  _ it wasn’t the most comfortable thing. Having her nipples tugged and yanked at just to squeeze out the meager amount of milk inside her.

“Rook?”

He walked forward with a dipped brow, moving to sit on the bed when his shoes were hastily removed. “You…you’re already producing milk?”

She cocked an eyebrow, sitting up as straight as she could manage. “You had a wife and kid before Joe, figured you’d expect this.”

He shrugged, eyes narrowed as he watched the tube pull fluids from her body. “I thought you would have told me.” He whispered it like he was hurt, like she was hiding it from him because she wanted it to be her little secret. He reached out, stroking just below her breasts soothingly. “Does it hurt?”

“Yes.” She snapped. “It fucking hurts.”

He tilted his head at her words. Slowly retracting his hand to remove his glasses and pull the pump off her breasts. He shushed her when she protested, a scowl of annoyance on her face, because it was actually helping. The pain was finally starting to ebb away, and he went to interrupt that process.

“God gives us everything for a reason. Especially those things in life that nature yields to us. Everything should be used to the fullest extent, don’t you think? It’d be sinful not to take what God leaves for us.”

Joseph’s hands wrapped around her waist. Somehow managing to shift her to sit between his legs. Her back pressed flat to his chest. Bare skin against bare skin.

He pressed kisses along her neck, fingers twirling around her nipples gently. Shifting whenever the response he got was anything close to pained. “We shouldn’t let anything go to waste, not when it is coming from such a divine source.” At his words he brought his milk coated fingers up to his lips. Lapping up the liquid with a low hum in his throat. “I trust you won’t let me catch you like this again Rook?”


	52. John/Rook Proposition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John proposes an idea to the deputy via video broadcast

The video started zoomed in on the ground, showing off a flashy red carpet with a pair of brown loafers that almost looked too clean, if that was possible. Slowly the image panned up.

Dramatic just as any video made by Eden’s Gate should be.

John pivoted on his heel by the time the camera reached his waist, making himself known with that telltale Eden’s Gate starburst on his belt and the long trench coat he rarely ever removes. His blue sunglasses, which she was sure no one’s ever seen on his face, rested on top of his head.    
  
His name appeared in a slow fading transition on the bottom of the screen in large, white, block letters. 

“I’m well aware that all of us have sinned in some way or another. By the time our innocence leaves us as we enter adulthood, we commit transgressions that tarnish our souls—though not permanently. Everyone has gone through events that have led us here.” He looked off screen, eyes fluttering around to somewhere behind the camera before he trained his gaze back on the intended audience.

His lips quirked up into a smile, palm resting flat on his chest for emphasis at just how terrible everyone really was. 

“You, me, even The Father, know deeply of sin.” His eyes were blown wide, staring right through the lens as his smile widened once more. “Our Heralds--Brother Jacob and Sister Faith, and me, of course--we’ve experienced temptation too. Though we must realize at one point in our lives that there is a dividing line between what sin we walk into ourselves and fate. Because something that is God given cannot be a sin when you fully accept it.” His chest visibly slackened when he breathed out, like he was holding in air, afraid to get his words out.

“Recently, God has sent us a group of people who have made themselves hard to ignore. I thought they were sin wrapped in layers of sin. It is with the guidance of The Father, and many of our loyal congregants, that I now can see that this was meant to be.” 

If anyone looked closely enough before the camera had the chance to pan out to reveal his whole body, and the scene around him, they could’ve caught how his cheeks dusted a light pink.

“Deputy Rook, I will be the bigger man in this situation, as well as the one to apologize for everything you’ve been through. You must have been just as confused and frustrated as I during these past few weeks. Unsure if something so glorious could be sinful?” He posed it like a question, tipping his head to the side making her think of Boomer. It was reminiscent to that night where they were tangled in each other limbs on his imported silk sheets, and he had asked the same question--except all those weeks ago it was only him, her and the crickets outside his ranch.

This was much too public. 

“I can take away your doubt deputy. All I need from you is an open mind.”

Rook would laugh if she wasn’t so utterly horrified. Painfully aware of everyone’s eyes dialed in on her. Not like she was about to acknowledge that. Nope, she was perfectly content to hunch over on her barstool with her cheeks a bright red and a death grip on her whiskey.

It had been smart an hour ago to accept Nick and Kim’s offer for a drink down at the Spread Eagle. Some time for a little R&R? Count her in.

No one mentioned that the damn TV stationed above the bar--directly to her left and way too close--would be turned on with the capability to pick up on every insane broadcast John presented them with.

“Fuckin’ hell.”

Kim laughed beside her, a hand already on her shoulder and squeezing tight, maybe an apology for putting her a situation that felt like it could turn hostile.

Her head was tipped down, but her eyes still were flicking upward to the screen. She was curious, though it was more of a morbid curiosity. The kind you’d get when driving past a car crash.

John was speaking again, dragging everyone’s attention in, making a quiet hush fall over the bar to hear him. “You see Rook, darling, beloved, can I call you that?” He laughed at his own words, smiling wide as he gestured to a fucking screen behind him. Something large with a beat up projector stationed in front that was probably borrowed from Jacob, only this time around gory wolf pictures were substituted for her own goddamn pictures. Baby pictures to be exact. 

Ranging from when she was an infant to a bumbling toddler.

“Damn deputy.” A hand clapped down on Rook’s shoulder, heavy and way too excited for her liking, but Rook felt like if she took a swing at the sniper named marksman, she’d end up on the floor.

So instead she smiled, something forced that turned out to look more like a scowl when she took back her drink in one swallow. “Yeah Grace, it’s something else, huh?”

“Yeah..yeah. And don’t take this the wrong way, just me working on my people skills—y’know how it is—but you were an ugly baby.”

Rook heard Nick laugh, and if Kim wasn’t between them, she would punch him, because he wasn’t a marksman and he was properly drunk. She resigned herself for flagging down Mary May for a refill. 

John started up again when she took another sip of her freshly capped off drink, baby photos well put away, rambling on about fate and God, because...well, he was John Seed and that was what he did best. Relate every little thing in his life back to God.

Meaning God meant for them to be together, everything was leading up to this moment where they could be one. 

His words, not hers.

“So Rook, listen up--”

“Turn it up Mary, he wants Rook to listen!”

And that was Nick, yelping out of surprise when Rook leaned over across the bar to shove him until he toppled.

“I’m asking for you, beloved, in my life. I just want a taste of what it can be like.” His smile hadn’t dimmed, she focused on that intense look he was giving the camera instead of Nick’s laughter as he spoke in what he probably thought was a whisper to Kim, “Oh, he wants a taste huh?”

“The top of the Valley my dear, that’s where I’ll be waiting. On that mountain, right where my sign overlooks it all. I hope to see you soon, I don’t like to be lead on, be fast deputy.”  


	53. PolySeed/Rook Until Death Do Us Part (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Each member of the Seed family dying in the deputy's arms and she tries to comfort them

**John**

He was scared. She could see it in his eyes even if he was yet to admit it. Something about him not saying a word, only his labored breathing to thank her for the mess she’s caused, made this seem surreal. Like he wasn’t lying in the mud, back pressed against her chest when she pulled him in tight when he couldn’t finish his stupid monologue. When his tears interrupted him and the soft hiccups were too much to ignore.

And really, that made things so much worse. That he was willing to show his soft underbelly for once and was fine tipping his head back to look up at her with wide puppy dog eyes. She saw such fear in his gaze as she cradled him in her arms. It tore her apart--much in the same way John tore apart Hope County and her people.

He was a monster. She’d be crucified if the resistance could see her now. Comforting an animal like him who--rumor has it--has never been comforted a day in his life. Especially when he most needed it way back when.

But that voicemail. That fucking voicemail made her pause when she tossed him over her shoulder and walked the five miles to get far enough away from his men circling in the sky scouting for any sign of him. That voicemail that she wished she never had the curiosity to listen to during a mission to rescue Nick’s beloved family heirloom of a plan, it made her throw him down on the muddy ground and stay with him long after he screamed at her instead of stealing his key like she was meant to.

His anger was only a front to cover up that fear, she now realized.

Her hands were constantly moving, stuck in a repetitive pattern to stroke back his normally slicked hair, now ruined by the wind and dirt. And the blood.

There was a lot of that. The sticky fluid was coating her hands, mucking up his expensive clothes and her already torn ones. She’d have to throw them away after this was all over.

Rook coughed lowly to cover up the whine she almost released. Because that thought came on suddenly. A realization that he would die here in her arms and she would walk away. She would have to continue life after this, he’d never get that chance.

A blessing in disguise maybe.

Whether that be for his wrath ending, allowing for ample time for people’s wounds to finally start to heal. Or, if she played her cards right, this could bring about a peace of sorts. If Joseph was the forgiving type, and she was busy praying that he was--too busy to care about the sudden rain that started--maybe this war could stop.

She never wanted a death in the Seed family just to make this end. It shouldn’t have come to that.

Rook whispered that to John. Put a finger under his chin until her lips were by his ear so she could share her thoughts.

He laughed at her. Chuckled low in his throat and curled on his side, cheek now resting on her hip, breathing out hot air on her skin that made goosebumps form when he wrapped his arms around her waist. “It’s a little too late to start having regrets deputy. Wish you would’ve told me this weeks ago. Maybe I wouldn’t be dying.”

“Maybe.” She echoed, placing the flat of her palm on his back. Feeling him recoil when her fingers brushed around the edge of a bullet that she tore through him. She wasn’t sure back then, ten minutes ago when he ran from her, if she was aiming to kill or wound. She was used to the killing, used to gunning down hoards of his men. It almost came naturally to line him up in her sights and pull the trigger when she could zone in on his most vital organs.

“Sorry.”

“Wish you wouldn’t apologize.” His voice had dropped low. Losing consciousness fast. Making his words slurred like he was drunk.

It was her turn to laugh, as watery as it was. She did, she laughed and petted back his hair again. Comfort. She wanted to comfort this man. A man who has never felt such a warm, tingling sensation low in his stomach in years, she wanted that to be his last feelings. One of love and care.

“I love you John.”

He keened softly, a sound that made her flinch by the way it seemed to have ripped it’s way from his throat just to escape. “You don’t have t-to lie.”

“M’not.” She flipped him around on his back the best she could manage. Apologizing for irritating the wounds that were slowly killing him. Rook folded over herself to get closer to him, cupping his cheeks to lay a kiss on his forehead. When she pulled back, his eyes were wide, so full of innocence that it made her chest ache.

“I’m scared. I’m scared to die Rook. I don’t wanna figure out what comes after.”

So she kissed him again in lieu of answering something that she couldn’t. This time on his cheek. She kissed away his tears and rubbed at his temple to ease his fear.

She did that until he went limp in her arms, breathing out one last sigh against her lips that made her sob.

\------

**Jacob**

“I don’t fucking need your help.”

“I know.” She soothed, a hand ruffling his hair almost tenderly. “Everyone knows your the big bad wolf who owns these mountains.”

He laughed at that, though it quickly morphed into an awful coughing fit that had him choking as blood filled his mouth.

Internal bleeding then. Something he deduced on his own when she sat by his side and he glared at her. There wasn’t much either of them could do about that. The feeling of helplessness had her scrambling to do anything. Something that didn't involve yanking the key from around his neck and leaving him to die a slow death in solitude. That left her sitting by his side with an arm thrown over his shoulder. His face pressed into the crook of her neck, breath coming out ragged.

They were too fucking far from anyone to come in time, he had to know that, or else he’d be grabbing at the radio on his belt, or maybe he’d be attacking her if he saw himself living to see the sunrise.

Jacob Seed didn’t go down without a fight. Unless he didn’t see the need for one. Unless, in his eyes, it seemed utterly pointless. And that thought scared her more than it should considering she wasn’t the one dying.

They were alone, so far from civilization even in the sparse environment of Hope County. He had no one to comfort him but her, not his soldiers he spent years training or his family whom he loved more than life itself. He wasn’t going to admit it, but she could tell how much that was tearing him up inside.

If Jacob asked for one last wish before he died, she’d imagined it’d be selfless. That it’d be something for his brothers.

“You’re gonna have to tell ‘em Rook.”

“Hm?” She didn’t turn to look at him, kept her gaze on the starry sky around them, too scared to see the mess she made of someone so untouchable as him.

“My brothers. My sister. No one knows we’re out here, just you and me. I don’t need them getting caught up in trying to find me. Labeling me as missing when I’m just dead.” He coughed, body shuddering as he turned his head away from her skin to spit blood onto the rocky terrain. “Grieving will be easier for them without all the false hope.”

“Asking a lot there.”

His hand came around suddenly, came up from where it rested on the rock to reach around and grip at her waist. He squeezed her as much as he could manage with limp, broken fingers. “I’m askin’ for a fucking favor. Me. Jacob Seed, the Herald of Eden’s Gate, is asking something from you. Get off your high horse.”

“S-sorry.” Because there was still that edge of an authoritative note that made her tremble down to her very core. Even in death he still had a hold on her she couldn’t fathom.

“That’s a yes?”

She nodded once. This time turning her body to pull him in an awkward hug. Mostly awkward because Jacob was actually responding. He was gripping onto her, fingers digging into her shoulder blades and face pressed close to her throat. And from the way he was shaking, tiny tremors rocking his body, he was crying.

Scared maybe, or sorrowful. Just plain sad he could be there for his brothers.

He seemed to read her mind, knowing exactly where she was wandering off to in her head.

“You’re gonna kill my family, aren't you? In the span of months, you plan on tearing down everything we spent literal years building. And there’s no remorse.”

Rook didn’t bother to answer his question. She kept silent, rubbing her hand up and down his back like that could ever be enough of an apology for what she had to do.

“If you don’t want me to--”

“You gonna stop if I ask?”

“Might consider it. When I go and see them, when I break the news like you asked.”

She felt him nod. Shivering, crowding closer to her, sucking away her body heat.

“If you’re being that considerate,” He breathed out slow, slumping against her, dying too fast, organs shutting down all at once with nothing she could do to stop it. “Think you can give them a body to bury? Closure. Johnny’s already damaged, if it could ease his pain…” Jacob trailed off, eyes slipping closed when she pet at his hair.

“I will. I promise.”

From the way he laughed, the last thing she ever heard from him before he slipped away, he probably didn’t believe her. She’d do it though. It was the least she could do for someone who never got anything he wanted from life. 

\------

**Faith**

She was soaking wet, bleeding into Rook’s own clothes until they were both properly saturated with the bliss tainted water.

It made her head feel more muddled than it already was, the flowers around her sparkling something fierce the longer she stayed around.

But when Faith reached out to her, cheek smeared with dirt and dress torn at the hem, inches away from the water with a shaking hand, ready to grab Rook’s, she almost stepped back. Something inside her did recoil, maybe more out of instinct than actual disgust or fear.

It pulled at her heart in a way it shouldn’t have. Perhaps that was only because of the sob story she heard before hand that made Rook decide closing the gap between them, to wrap Faith in a bear hug, would be a good idea. The bunker that held innocent souls was feet from her left, and she ignored that. So long as the bliss still infested her veins, it wasn’t going anywhere.

Playing the hero could wait. For now, she had someone who needed years of comfort to stop her tears. To make all those bad memories in her head fade away until she was relatively happy, content and greeted back into the fold of Hope County’s residents.

Rook couldn’t erase that hurt in a few minutes. 

Because she wasn’t a doctor, but she was sure that was all they had left at this point. Only minutes before Faith died from the wounds Rook inflicted upon her in what seemed like a fucking fever dream.

“I was a kid back then, didn’t know where to turn or where to go. Do you understand how he preys on those who are vulnerable? He gets in your head, makes you believe in him.”

Rook pulled Faith to the ground, falling to their knees to let her rest. “But he’s just a man, hm?”

“Not a messiah, or prophet, or God.” Faith finished softly. Exhaling with slumped shoulders. “You don’t realize that until it’s too late and he’s all you have, until suddenly he’s threatening you in a way a brother shouldn’t.”

In the way of comforting goes, Rook wasn’t doing too hot. Staying silent, save for how she rocked them back and forth, humming low under her breath. What was she supposed to say? The best option seemed to be just listening when Faith was venting, desperate to get her words out. Really it made her wonder when the last time someone had actually listened and heard what Rachel had to say. Rook could grant that to her.

“Threaten?” The words felt sour on her tongue, “Does he do that to John? Jacob?”

Faith chuckled, a dark sound so unlike her fairy persona. “No...no of course not. He sees them as equals. He loves them, would walk to the end of the world for them. I’m not blood, easily replaceable. And when I die, right here, no one will care. Not Joseph or his brothers, not the people of Eden’s Gate when they bring in the next Faith--the worst kept secret in Hope County--there will be another, I know that.”

“People will care.” It was lame and stupid and it made Rook cringe and wrap her arms tighter around Faith.

“You won’t.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Instead she pulled back from Faith, grabbed at her cheeks, careful not to touch the gash on her cheek still leaking with blood. “Tracy? She’ll mourn, despite not knowing you as Faith. She’ll mourn Rachel.” Her fingers tightened on Faith when she tried to jerk away, triggered from just hearing her name. “She’ll cry for what could have been if you let her rescue you instead of Joseph. She’ll cry for what you had to go through and the accomplishments that was just out of your reach. I promise you that Faith.”

Rook leaned forward, closing that gap once again, laying a kiss on her forehead, pushing her matted hair away from a tear stained face. 

She hated to admit that she was glad when Faith went limp against her. It meant less grief for Rook, it meant she didn’t have to explain how fucking angry Tracy actually was moments before she told her to go get Faith, to take her down because she infiltrated their ranks and murdered their own.    
Rachel didn't need to know. Not when it was Joseph who forced her hand to slaughter.

\-------

**Joseph**

To see him on his knees was a glorious sight to behold. A scene she’d want to spend time to bask in, to finally have this one moment, to capture it in her mind forever.

She went through hell making sure he was the one on the ground, clutching at his ribs like something was broken, and she wouldn’t be surprised if they really were with how her own people were treating him.

Giving harsh kicks to his torso with heavy boots and downswings with rusty weapons to his spine that made an awful noise.

“That’s enough!”

Rook had to yell that three more times before they backed off. Stepping away with sweat dripping down faces decorated with scowls, angry, hungry dogs wanting to snap at her for taking their chew toy away.

But he had enough, he was dying. She could see that from a mile away, she’s known death ever since she stepped into this county. So she could spot the life fading from his eyes when she crouched by his side and flipped him over on her back.

He crumpled at her feet with a grunt. Eyes slipping shut now that his glasses were long gone and the sun was shining bright behind her.

She almost felt sorry.

She might. Maybe that was what the strange tightness in her throat was from.

Rook raised a hand, waving away the men she entrusted to oversee him.

“Why Rook?”

“Those weren’t my orders.”

And that was the truth. She never told them to hurt him, to beat him to death in order to take out their anger. But really, what did she expect? After all this man did, of course people would want revenge, some sort of justice to balance out all that they’ve lost. It was human nature.

No, she never ordered them to do what they did to him, but she couldn’t say she was surprised. It was bound to happen eventually.

“Why me then? Why’d you come after me?”

Rook tipped her head to the side at that, staring at him with a startled gaze when he propped himself up on his elbows to be level with her eyes. “Cut the head off the snake Joseph. Did you expect me to run off to your brothers and sister? Take them out, then you?”

“I expected--” he coughed, low in his throat and breathy, spitting up blood onto her already dirtied jeans. He collapsed forward, cheek resting on her thigh. She felt each shuddering breath when he spoke again. “I expected you to let go of your wrath and join us. I never saw this. I saw something beautiful. Hope County full of color and thriving people after the Collapse. I saw a new man ready to take on my legacy when I grew old. Was that a lie Father?”

He was delirious, speaking to whoever he worshiped instead of her.

Her hand pat at his head, twirling her fingers until they got lost in his hair. “You could have done great things Joseph. If you were just a preacher with an urge to change the world,” Rook whistled low in her throat, moving her hand to cradle the back of his neck for him to lean into. “I image you could have made a difference for a lot of broken and lost people.” 

What she was saying without dangling it in-front of his face: You were wrong, you did this for nothing because now you’re dying and everything you did in your life was all useless. 

She didn’t dare tell that to a man dying in her lap. She wasn't that cruel.

Instead she scratched at his head, eyes scanning the ground in front of her, zoning in on his glasses only inches away. Knocked off his face in whatever scuffle happened when her back was turned.

Rook moved slow, not shifting him too much, willing to grant him that in the very least as she tried to limit his pain. Which is why she placed those glasses on the bridge of his nose, lips quivering into something close to a smile when he made a pleased tone in the back of his throat.

He thanked her, God only knows what for, but he did. Whispered it out and brought up a hand to pull her in closer until he could lay a kiss to her forehead. She stayed bent like that, letting him press his scruffy cheek to hers like a cat.

For a moment she forgot who was supposed to be comforting who.

Until she was wiping at his tears and she was suddenly the one apologizing, listing off wrongdoings that she never thought she’d be capable of committing. It wasn’t black and white, Eden’s Gate wasn’t 100% bad or good, and neither was the resistance. She let him know this, hoped that would help him slip away a little bit easier.

Rook found out that even after the death of The Father, the last minute apology she delivered didn’t help her continue the warpath she had been on.


	54. Joseph/Rook Just Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Deputy can also hear the Voice and knows about the end of the world

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to add some letters and details from what we know already about Far Cry New Dawn

She was always hesitant to call Joseph crazy. She wasn’t as fast to jump in when her companions were there poking fun at him for what he preached. Because if they thought that way about him, the one who thought the world was going to end from bombs and fire, then surely they’d think no better about her.

She saw it. Every night, maybe more frequently then Joseph claimed to. Not like she’s ever had the chance to ask him about it, but she knew what he saw, who he claimed to hear whisper in his ear ever since he was a little boy.

It was such a parallel to her own life that she went comatose for days. Sitting down in Dutch’s bunker until things topside got a little too hectic.

She wanted to tell him. To share it with him, because she had a feeling he’d be the one person in the world who wouldn’t dare call her crazy. He’d reassure her, hold her tight and tell her everything was going to be okay even if it wasn’t. She was desperate for that, to let it come spilling out.

And maybe she’d be more inclined to if she didn’t think she’d be slaughtered for even thinking about meeting up with Joseph.

She mentioned it before. Shrouded her reasoning for wanting to find a sort of peace between the resistance and Eden’s Gate. That had been shot down quick. Quick enough that it made her head spin and had her stomach curling into knots.

Call her a coward, but doing it over the radio seemed like the best option, and the one that she went with in the end. Because she was aching for someone to know. He would understand. If he didn’t, at least she didn’t have to see the judgement in his eyes when she spoke.

“Joseph.” Her voice shook, already in a quiet hush from where she sat inside a car left abandoned on the side of the road. No one was around for miles, but the need for whispering came almost naturally.

The response she got came in an instant, he sounded excited, though tired. Like she had awoken him from a nap. That made it worse, she’d prefer if he was fully awake, ready to hear her nonsense and not question if she was lying or not.

“Child?” He prodded, and Rook winced. Right, having a conversation required two people, she missed whatever he said in greeting, too lost in her thoughts. Scrambling to figure out how to say this. “You needed me?”

“Yes.”

There was a beat of silence. One she wasn’t ready to fill. So instead she apologized.

She heard his sigh, something long and drawn out before there was rustling in the background. “No need to be sorry, not when you have something on your mind. I’ll wait. I’m a patient man.”

“Patient.” She echoed, nodding along despite him not being able to see her. “Waiting for the end of the world makes a man patient I guess.”

He hummed, maybe thinking she was being rude, joking in a soft voice about how crazy he was. God, if he only knew.

“I have a theory.” She bit her tongue when he made an encouraging sound for her to continue. “About how it’ll all end. About the Collapse, even when it’ll take place.” Because the voice in her head had been specific, the visions she saw were so vivid that she had all the information.

“And you’d like to tell me.” Joseph mumbled, sounding like something was in his mouth, like he was biting as his fingernails, just as nervous as she was.

And she was fucking terrified, busy wondering how the hell she could make him believe her. “Bombs make the most sense. Fire and hell raining down on the world, that would cleanse it pretty fast. It’d be effective.” She swallowed around her words, throat closing up tight. “And maybe you are the one to lead everyone to safety. That’d also make sense. After what I heard--” Rook stopped, eyes slamming shut. She couldn’t. She couldn’t outright say it, that made it all the more real. It made it become something she’d have to deal with instead of ignore.

The third time Joseph said her name is when she finally responded, a low keen in her throat that made her sound like a wounded animal.

“I’m scared Joseph.”

“You believe me, don’t you?” She listened close for any hint of righteous smugness in his voice, shoulders dropping in relief when she couldn’t find any. “Why else would you be scared, why would you be putting any thought into the Collapse unless you thought it was going to happen?”

“Kinda hard to deny it when I’m just like you.” She kept on going, hunching down in the front seat and cutting Joseph off before he could ask any questions. “I can’t say it’s not gonna happen one day when I  _ see  _ it. I can practically feel the fire, all the pain and fear. It’s feels too real to be my imagination or some fucked up dream.” She laughed, a sound verging on hysterical. “And you know what? It’s hard to call you crazy like the rest of Hope County when I’ve got a voice in my head telling me how everything’s gonna go to shit.”

She tossed the radio into the passenger seat, changing frequencies as quick as her shaking fingers could manage. She didn’t want to hear his response, now that it was out there, she was afraid. Too much of a coward to even listen to him.

*****

“Rook, I know you must be scared.”

“It can’t be easy. I should understand better than anyone here in Hope County.”

“You can’t run forever, you can try, trust me, I tried once. But it follows you.”

“The least you can do is get in front of this, to listen to the voice so you can prepare.”

And on, and on, and on.

A never ending litany of words that didn’t cease. It made her wonder how he made time for other things, or if he dedicated all his time into speaking to her. That thought made warmth crawl into her stomach in ways she couldn’t explain.

She spoke to John in a strange turn of events. He caught her so easily, tied up and helpless with nothing but her words as defense, she spoke. Rook could lie and say it was some way to distract him.

That’d be a downright lie. She saw it in John’s eyes when he crouched down between her legs to hear her better, she saw how he would know if she was lying to them both. It was an unnerving talent that made her realize how smart she had been speaking to Joseph via radio. She no longer had that luxury.

“And do you see it too? Joseph--I’ve never doubted him--but to have confirmation. It’d help, it’d solidify things for those that refuse to hear us out.”

Was he desperate to have a war end? Or to stop the doubt he claimed didn’t fester inside him? Did it matter?

No. It really didn’t. 

So she talked. Opened her mouth against her better judgement, refusing to acknowledge how frowned upon this would be if her friends knew what she was doing.

“I see it through dreams mostly, that’s how it started. Back when I was young.” He pushed her on that, asked how young, what were the circumstances. More specifically, was her childhood as traumatic as the Seeds’.

She answered him on all fronts. Fully expecting each word she spoke to be delivered to Joseph verbatim.

“The voices only started when I got to Hope County. Freaked the fuck outta me. Then I heard what Joseph preached about and…and I wanted to run.”

“You didn’t.”

“I had to act normal, people needed me, what they didn’t need was a lunatic.”

That was enough for John, he only smiled at her. Tipping his head to the side and running a hand down her cheek in a show of farewell.

He let her go.

And Joseph kept on pestering her. He wanted her to join. To give up the morals she collected, toss them to the wind and stand by his side. Compare notes on the end of the world. Perhaps play a game of who was more delusional.

“This is a blessing, it may seem scary, but this is a good omen.”

“Who else can help you but me, child? Where are you planning to run to?”

“I only wish to talk to you, to hear what you’ve seen, what you’ve heard. It’d fill in the blanks.”

“When the world goes up in smoke, at least then you’ll be reassured you’re not crazy.”

She was thinking of getting rid of her radio. That’d be sure to raise a few eyebrows from her companions, who were blissfully unaware of her shaky alliance with the Seed family.

An alliance that solidified when Faith came to her and didn’t immediately drug her and pull her into a fanciful world of lies.

She pulled her in tight, a close embrace that made Rook tremble. “You poor thing.” Faith was cooing at her like a child, stroking her hair and making both of them fall to the ground. “Running from place to place and so confused.” Rook played dumb, blinked at her once like she couldn’t hear.

“Do you want my help?”

“No.”

Faith nodded once, like she expected nothing less. “You’re still loyal to your friends, no matter how ill placed that loyalty is.” Faith kissed her cheek, smiling sickly sweet before standing. “I heard The Father wants to speak with you. All in good time, he says.” Faith left in a flash of sparkles and green haze.

The only remnant of her being a white flower that was tucked behind her ear.

Rook stood on shaking feet and kept walking like nothing happened. No one knew about the interaction with John, and no one would know about her conversation with Faith.

And though Joseph claimed to say, all in good time, he was still persistent. He called her at night more often than not, making her wonder how his schedule had changed for him to bother her at such an unruly time.

“You need to talk to me. Because we are getting close to the end, you must feel it. If what you say is true, then you have to feel it deep in your bones the same as I do.”

“Are you hiding from me Rook? I can’t find you anywhere, and I know patience--or I thought I did--you make me question a lot of things these days.”

“You have a penchant for making me forgo my responsibilities to my flock. All of whom I hope to introduce you to one day with you having the title of Herald. Only a matter of time.”

Jacob snagged her next. A radio call warning her like all the other times, informing her that Joseph wanted to talk to her, so that’s what she would do. She couldn’t argue, couldn’t really fight either. Not against the kind of hunters Jacob trained.

Joseph did come see her, soon after she woke and Jacob actually allowed for her to have her fill of food and water. Begrudgingly, but he still gave it to her. She guessed those were Joseph’s orders.

This time she didn’t have anything to hide behind when Joseph knelt on the ground with his hands wrapped tight around the metal bars. Looking all in the world like he couldn’t believe she was finally there in front of him.

“Rook. My child, you don’t look well” She could have fooled herself into thinking he sounded sympathetic. “You’re pale...and thin.” He glanced over to where Jacob stood a foot away, arms crossed over his chest with a curious gleam in his eyes she could just barely make out in the darkness of night.

“Haven’t been able to sleep.” She wasn’t sure why she admitted that, it slipped out before she could stop it though.

Joseph hummed, head tipping down and eyes slipping closed. “You still resist. And I can’t understand why. You’re suffering, going against every fiber of your being. You’re putting your health at risk, and for what?”

“Whatever I choose now--whether to consider myself apart of Eden’s Gate or not--I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life. I’ll have to live with the guilt. And if there’s some way to diminish that guilt, then I’ll take it.”

“Wouldn’t you feel guilty if you don’t help me rescue lives before the Collapse? Imagine all those you’ll be saving, all the future generations that will live to see another day, they will thank you for redeeming their souls.”

Rook shuffled closer to him, placing her hands over where Joseph’s still gripped the bars. “I already feel remorseful. I already feel guilty. All I have left are my morals, the things that I stand for and believe are right. If I leave that behind, if you take that from me--I don’t think I’ll make it to see the new world after seven years. You’ll be better off killing me in a show of mercy so I don’t have to live with the guilt of the damage I have done. Do you understand that I never wanted this? I never asked for this!”

“Neither did I.” He sounded so, so sad. So regretful with his half smile. “Only difference is that I am choosing to do something with my knowledge.”

“I don’t want to be known as the sinner who tried to take down Eden’s Gate, who destroyed the statue of The Father and caused everyone such a headache.”

“There’s a reason you’re here, there is a plan that God has for you, child. I can wait until you see that, or you can stay with me, and we can discover it together. I can make sure you are born anew. No one has to know your name, all they will know is that you stand for Eden’s Gate. We can let our people know that we both intend to create a peaceful life for them and their families. We can be a family.”

He stood, bringing a hand through the bars to brush over her head like she was a dog. “Until then Rook, I hope you come to a decision that isn’t too rash.”

\-----

**Joseph’s Diary**

_ The deputy is wracked by guilt. _

_ I thought about killing them. As a mercy. But I will have them understand my forgiveness. I will have them know what it is to be judged as they have judged. _

_ And when they do, when they crawl out of themselves with nothing left but hunger, I will tell them who they are. _

_ God has a plan for them yet. And so do I. _

 

**A Scribbled Note**

_ I can’t think, I’m getting hungry. _

_ We need to go topside soon but I’m terrified. _

_ I think I did the right thing. _

_ I want to do the right thing now. _

_ He says he forgives me, but I can’t. _

_ I don’t know If I did the right thing. _

_ I don’t understand and all he gives me is the Word. _

\------

**Stranger’s Note**

_ You know. You know best. God tells you, just like he tells me. If I listen to you and that voice in my head, it’s good, and right, and I can help, and I can save people, and make it right, and everything will be okay. If I judge as your judge the judgement is right and just, the judgement is God’s Word. I see now. I am so sorry. Please give me a mask I am afraid. No one can know me. Please let me be reborn like the world, cleansed of sin and new, and I will fight to cleanse the sin. Thank you Joseph thank you Father. _

 


	55. PolySeed Headcanons Hobbies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Headcanons about what the Seeds' hobbies are (Besides the obvious one's)

 

**Jacob**

  * Any activity that Jacob indulges in will mostly be solitary. He likes his space, enjoys reflecting, and to do that, he’s gotta be alone.
  * Once or twice when he was a younger, and when he had the rare chance, he played instruments. That love of music never fully disappeared, but there’s something so special to him about making something with his own hands. Especially something that is so beautiful, whether that’s coming from a guitar or piano, he loves it.
  * Hunting and fishing are obvious. But if anything that’d be for practical use. He feels as if it’s a skill that he’ll need. But most of all, really, even if he won’t admit it, he likes providing for people. He’s done it since he was a child, always caring for his brothers and making sure they were loved. It’s no different now. He enjoys hunting if only to bring something back for his brothers just to see how fucking proud they are.
  * You can’t tell me Jacob doesn’t jog. He needs exercise, something to keep him fit and his mind active. The man runs laps around his soldiers.
  * Jacob seems like a smart man, like he’s done his studies and probably read a book or two. That said, he doesn’t really like reading, unless it’s an intellectual book. Something about the world, or philosophy or anything that can add to what he knows. He just likes to learn new things, it’s been that way since he was a kid and back then he never had the chance to get an education.
  * He likes to tinker with things. Even if they aren’t necessarily broken. He doesn’t share the same ideals with his brothers about the dangers of technology, he loves new tech. Taking it apart just to figure out how to put it back together again, learning programming or just fixing an appliance.



 

**Joseph**

  * Hands down, Joseph has a thing for making tiny boats. Like those things that come in a thousand pieces and you need to squint to look into a glass bottle to make. It’s time consuming and takes patience and such a steady hand, but the end result is so worth it. 
  * He also likes drawing. Mostly sketches, whether that be simple things that are around his house, or the nature around him, he makes rough drafts of things on any scratch of paper he can find, never coloring them or adding proper shading, just tucking them away inside his bedside table. 
  * Joseph no doubt enjoys gardening. Getting down on his knees in the dirt to make something appear in the earth, something that came from Mother Nature herself, it’s breathtaking. Anything with color that can give the world around him a better appeal, he’s all for it. 
  * Ever since Joseph got to Hope County and they first started construction, he found out how much he loved to build. He wasn’t much of a help at the start, never having done it before, but he got the hang of it, and now his house is such an ugly mess of furniture he created, at like, 2 in the morning. It makes John cringe whenever he visits. He’s just constantly asking Joseph if he can buy him an _actual_ chair, instead of the splintery death trap he has. 



 

**John**

  * John has to like drawing. I imagine if he didn’t physically tattoo himself, he at least designed those tattoos. I mean, a guy like that isn’t about to walk into a shop and pick something out at random. He needs a game plan. And suddenly that transformed into him just doodling. Not real drawings or anything fancy, just tiny things that’s super small it’d only fit into the margin of some notebook paper.
  * I’ve got a feeling John’s a man who likes to swim. Not in the lake near his ranch or in any of the beautiful streams up in the mountains. He needs a pool, nicely warm and indoors. And once he’s got that, he’s good to go. It keeps him in shape and makes him feel free, it’s the one time he’s truly happy and can just let go and laugh.
  * John’s into sunbathing, not really a hobby, just something he does with his free time when he can find any. Even if it’s not on the beach, just give him a chair that can recline _alllll_ the way back, some suntan lotion and a martini and he’ll be there for hours. He can’t have a pale complexion in Hope County, not when all those people practically live outdoors with their woodsmen ways. He has one too many moles/freckles dotting his back and chest from the sun.
  * Following that artistic route, John definitely likes writing. It’s sparse and rarely occurs, but when it does, it’s early in the morning before the sun has risen and it just comes pouring out. Then he hits a dry spell for the next year until the cycle repeats.



 

**Faith**

  * Not really a hobby, but Faith definitely spends way too much time trying to learn a foreign language. She started out slow with French and Spanish, but she took it up a notch. She loved how different languages sounded, they were all so beautiful. Soon she’s speaking Mandarin, Latin, Chinese, you name it and she’s at least given it a try.  
  * Faith cooks, she had to learn when everyone in her life kicked her to the curb. Now she kinda wants to gloat about it since no one in the Seed family can make a meal to save their life. She likes the attention she gets for it.




	56. Joseph/Rook Unacceptable Dinners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook discovers Joseph is having a nice evening dinner with someone, and doesn't know why she feels jealous

She had been watching him for a while, tracking his movements and marking up a map in the hopes of finding a pattern. 

John had proved a force to be reckoned with, so she left him to his own devices a while back. She didn’t want to test her odds with Faith or the bliss, and Jacob seemed a little too interested in her when he first called her. 

Joseph seemed like the safer choice considering how fucking tired she was. He gave her a break, let her sit back, eat an apple and just watch him. Never close enough to hear, thank God for that, she didn’t care much for his sermons, but she was close enough to read his face. To see every minute expression change, he was like an open book. Frankly, it made her job easier.

She slept when he slept and ate when he ate. Ample times for breaks. Which is why she didn’t think twice when he went back to where he called home in his tiny house on his compound for dinner. She kicked back against a tree, blanket thrown over her lap to stave off the chilling wind with a scarce amount of food littering the ground and a half full bottle of water cradled between her thighs. 

A pair of binoculars were pressed to her face, pen and paper to her left, ready to take notes if need be. It fleetingly made her wonder if she should have became a detective.

She laughed at that, shaking her head and refocusing on Joseph through his open window. His appearance it what gave her pause, made her freeze suddenly and scramble to grab at the notepad by her side. A difference in The Father’s schedule is something she should be paying attention to. Especially when he just looked so...well put together.

Like a man. Not some demi-God or a preacher with insane rantings spilling from his lips. Just a man ready for a night out on the town, and if she saw this snapshot out of context she could create a whole life for him. She could imagine that he was returning home from work, maybe at a bank or in some office, he’d meet his spouse at the door and bend down to receive the embrace of the kids he had.

His expression, clouded and nervous at the same time, is what made her refocus. 

Something was happening. Something that was enough to make Joseph adjust the carefully pressed white button up he was wearing for the fifth time, going as far as to tug at his sleeves before opening the door to whoever he was waiting for.

The woman who walked in, making herself at home by slipping off her shoes almost instantly to take a seat at Joseph’s table, was someone Rook couldn’t recognize. But she was just as well dressed as Joseph. Makeup flawless from where Rook was sitting, pleated skirt pulled tight around her waist and hair done up by a professional.

She put Rook to shame. And for a second she felt self conscious, if they were in the same room as each other someone would assume Rook came back from war. They were from different worlds, and Joseph obviously preferred this stranger’s life than to what Rook brought to the table.

He was smiling, laughing, head tipping with a glimmer in his eyes that Rook swore wasn’t a trick of the light. 

The stranger was leaning forward, her head propped up on her cupped palm, elbow resting comfortably on the table. Interested on Joseph’s every word, completely captivated. For the first time since Rook started following the life of Joseph Seed, she wished she could hear what he was saying. What words were he using to make the woman in front of him go slack jawed?

Rook bit the inside of her cheek, pen and notepad pushed to the side, the job she had long forgotten. She didn’t miss how Joseph’s eyes dropped, lashes fluttering towards the open V of the stranger’s shirt.

She held back the word slut on her tongue. It was childish, the feeling bubbling up inside her. Maybe envy, maybe anger. Maybe it was the fact that she didn’t want to think of him having of life, of being happy when he robbed that from so many--her included. Or maybe it was something else, like the fact that he wasn’t paying her attention, as was their per usual.

She had half the mind to leave. Go trek over to Nick and Kim’s to crash on the couch and coddle her new godchild. But suddenly her radio was in her hand, clenching it tight as she spoke through a clamped jaw. 

“Father?” A radio frequency stolen from Jacob, some papers scattered on his desk that she tried to commit to memory, and now she prayed to God with eyes shut tight that he just---

“Rook?”

Her eyes were open again, scrambling to find where Joseph went, to at least see his expression, if she put any strain on his dinner date.

By the looks of it, she succeeded. He was no longer seated at the table with a cool glass of wine cradled in his grasp, he had retreated to his bedroom. Curtains pulled wide open to offer her a perfect view of how utterly stressed he looked.

Fingers tangled in his hair only to smooth it back a moment later when the band holding in the strands slipped free. He was pacing, brow pinched when he spoke again. “Rook? You’re calling me for…?” He sounded impatient, and if she was miles away safe in her bed, she might ask why. She might have the gall to tease him. To insinuate the sin he could be committing. 

Instead she breathed in to steady herself, pressed down on the red button so Joseph could hear her exhale. “Are you free Father?”

He grunted, like he was physically wounded. And the face he pulled was full of pain. “Now...I can’t.”

“After all this time of wanting to get to me, to make me stop, here I am willing to speak and you want to tell me no.” She clicked her tongue, leaning back against the bark of a tree to try and relax her tense muscles.

He glanced back at the bedroom door, frowning and shaking his head. “Rook, I am begging you to give me a moment, maybe an hour, this is important--”

“Does someone have a hot date to get to?”

“Why--Why would you assume that?”

She winced, curling in on herself at his tone. Accusatory and mad. “Nothing. Nevermind, have a nice night Father.”

And then she was stomping off, grabbing her shit and packing up. Going to Nick and Kim’s because fuck Joseph Seed and the secretive life he was intent on leading.

*****

The dinners continued. 

Night after night. Week after week. 

And she began thinking wrath was a perfect fit for her, she was so close to calling up John just to place it on her skin. Or maybe envy would have been a better fit.

But that didn’t make sense now, did it? It was Joseph, she had no right to question what he did in his spare time. Yet she wanted whatever this was, to end. 

She wanted the girl in the fancy pantsuit and dressed with silken hair to get the fuck out of Rook’s crosshairs. Quite literally in her crosshairs, her little head lined up with her sniper’s sight. Joseph close behind. It was wholesale slaughter and she was ready. 

“Joseph.”

She saw a flicker of annoyance cross his face from miles away when he stood, excusing himself politely with a smile, and made a hasty retreat to his bedroom again.

“This is a habit now, huh Rook?”

 

“What?” She played innocent, not bothering to hide her smile when she lowered her rifle to hold her radio.

“You seem to call me at the worst times.”

“Would you prefer if I came to see you Father?”

She raised her binoculars just to see how he’d react to his title falling from her lips. He liked it, judging by how he visibly rocked on his feet, hand reaching out to steady himself on his dresser.

“I’d be happy if you came into my church any time of the day, but now--”

“I’m coming.”

“You’re not.” Seething, sounding angry and reserved.

She was. But she put her radio down, let him return to his guest and play host while she gathered her things and climbed down from her perch.

*****

She greeted Joseph with a smile, beaming up at him with wide eyes and fluttering lashes. He did not look amused. A frown tugging thin lips down, eyes--for once not obscured by glasses--showed contempt. 

“Miss me?”

His mouth twitched at the corner. So close to telling her to leave, or just calling for his men, she could be out of his hair and gone in an instant. Rook had a feeling the only reason he didn’t do just that was because of his lady friends...speaking of which. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I told you now was not the time.”

“Mhm. Why?” She bounced on her heels, daring enough to lean on the doorframe and peak over his shoulders on her tip toes. She didn’t miss the way he shielded her view. “Who are you hiding back there?” She questioned in a whisper, painfully aware of the answer. 

If she did catch him off guard, he was a pro at hiding it. Tilting his head to the side and grazing his eyes down her body when she stepped into his personal space. Close enough for him to smell the blood and mud that lingered on her clothes, and close enough for her to smell the sweet perfume that stranger left on him. 

“Never pegged you as nosey. Or invasive. Or perhaps,” He didn’t finish, shaking his head like his next thought was nothing but foolish. 

Rook grew bolder, something pushing her on, probably that envy she still denied. Her hand reached out to press the flat of her palm on his chest. Feeling the heat he naturally gave off. “I liked you better without a shirt, when I could see your sins. They made you seem more human, vulnerable too.”

He breathed out a sigh at her words. Silent when he threw a worried glance over his shoulder. 

Rook felt to much like some whore who had her hands all over a married man. So she stepped back. Searching Joseph’s eyes and finding he wasn’t unaffected. “You never finished your sentence.” She reminded gently, arms folded across her chest, getting the feeling that he was seconds away from closing the door. 

“I never pegged you as being the type of woman who would ever be envious of someone else who captured my attention.”

The door shut with a soft click. 

She waited one minute.

Two.

Five.

Eight.

She was seething. Mad that there were no alarms, no screaming or men rushing at her from every angle with guns pointed at her face. He hadn’t told a single soul about the infiltration to his compound. He knew what she was capable of, that she could kill dozens all by herself. And yet he was letting her walk away, allowing her this freedom as if she was nothing more than a stray puppy who showed up at his door begging for scraps. 

It was an insult that he fully expected her to leave after he called her out for a sin she totally, 100% did not own. He wanted her gone, to walk back to wherever she came from.

She didn’t do anything like that. Instead, taking up camp below his bedroom window, checking and rechecking to make sure it wasn’t locked--it wasn’t--she could wait.

*****

She had been half dreading Joseph would take the stranger back to his room. She’d be forced to sit in agony as they fucked only feet away, she didn’t think she’d be able to handle hearing him like that.

Not when she was jealous.

Because she was. She knew that, and she had a feeling Joseph was the type of man to be a smug asshole about that. Maybe it was the twinkle in his eyes she swore she saw before he closed the door on her.

He liked her jealous? Fine. She’d show him how deep that envy ran.

So when his lights clicked off and she heard his bed sigh under his weight, she made her move.

Crept impossibly slower than she normally acted only to slide open his window. Just enough for her to slip inside, closing it quick before a gust of air made him shift and face her.

He did look like an angel when he slept. Dark eyelashes highlighted against rosy cheekbones, there was a high flush in his skin, probably from the wine he always drank whenever company was over. 

“What happened to practicing what you preach?” She posed the question softly, standing above him with a finger trailing down his jaw. He grumbled at the contact, squirming before resting back into his pillow once more.

Sound asleep then. Blissfully unaware to what she had planned. And to what she had in the dirty bag left at her feet. Something to keep him still and quiet so her point got across more clearly.

She set to work, only using the dim light the moon was reflecting on her. With diligent fingers she bound him up, rose his arms above his head with slow motions to tie those to the metal frame of his rickety bed. A bed that’d make a hell of a lot of noise if he struggled too much. Especially when his feet were tied up as well, stretching wide to each respective post belonging to his bed. 

Realistically she knew he could fight her when he woke--because he would--but would he risk the noise? The loud banging and creaking of the bed that would no doubt alert the people that were sleeping only feet away in their own houses.

How much pride did he have? Surely enough to not want to get caught with the junior deputy sitting in his lap. That’s where she found herself anyway, seated on his hips with the thin blanket covering him tossed to the side.

Him going sans shirt and pants made this so much easier.

Her hands clawed down his front, her nails creating tiny red lines that made him stir. She did that a little bit harder, running over scars and tattoos alike until he jolted. Head shaking to the side as if that would help him wake faster.

His eyes were blown wide in an instant. Dialing in on her and just how close she was to him.

“Good evening Father.”

She pressed her palms flat to his chest, spreading out her fingers, making her pinky brush along his nipples. The contact had his eyes slamming shut, the breath he took made his ribs shake.

“Rook. What are--you aren’t--” He stopped suddenly, collecting his thoughts before speaking again. “You must have wanted to speak to me, hm?”

Her head jerked in a nod. Wondering, from this close, if he could see the sin in her eyes.

“I wanted to make something clear.”

“And what would that be?” With his voice rough and scratchy from sleep, lowered to a whisper, it made wanton need curl low in her stomach. He almost sounded defeated. 

Almost.

“Gotta admit that I didn’t much care for your choice of company these last few weeks.”

He opened his mouth, closing it a second later when his eyes clouded over. A soft hum left his lips when he couldn’t find any words. She continued, breathing in deep as her hands moved from his chest to stray lower. “I never thought myself the possessive type. I can’t even really explain why it’s directed at you.” She shrugged, fingers catching at the hem of his boxers, snapping at the elastic to make his hips jump up into hers. “And yet, here we are.”

“Call it like it is, Rook, if you want to admit something to me, as a confession, you may as well give it the proper name.”

When she tipped her head in confusion, still so far into a pit of denial, he finished his thought, “This is envy. Pure jealousy. A sin I never would have imagined belonged to you. I suppose you confirmed what was only a suspicion.” 

A small part of her, the one that harbored way too much pride, felt like curling in on herself and slipping back out that window. Instead, to distract them both, she let the tips of her fingers run over the front of his underwear. Slowly trailing over his interested cock. Seemed like he wasn’t totally unaffected.

With one sharp tug his cock sprung free, half hard and already leaking.

“I’m just a man, you know that.” He mumbled when she searched him with a probing gaze. “To know that I am driving you towards sin.” He smiled at her, squirming where he laid under her, “Maybe I shouldn’t take so much pride in that.”

“You like me jealous?” 

Her hand wrapped around his length, rubbing over his cockhead but never fully indulging him. 

“Can’t say I’m mad at it.”

 

She clicked her tongue, shaking her head in faux disappointment. “Then I’m guessing you won’t object if I come back tomorrow?” She slinked away from him, not missing the worry in his eyes at her departure. 

“You’re not staying?”

She laughed, moving to the end of the bed to untie his ankles, rubbing at the skin there when she noticed the red marks. “Maybe another night. I’m not that jealous.” An awful lie that didn’t fool either of them. “You gotta work harder than that.” She moved to his arms next after the rope was thrown on the floor, she untied his left wrist, trusting him to work out the other on his own.

He grabbed at her before she could make an escape, propped up on one elbow with only a single hand and he was still strong enough to yank her on the bed to pull her into a harsh kiss she didn’t think he was capable of. “I’ll take that as a challenge Rook.”


	57. John/Rook Sky High

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook's deathly afraid of heights and John decides to take her out flying

“We’re gonna fucking die.” 

“We haven’t even left the ground yet, give me a chance.”

“We’re gonna die.” She repeated, eyes wide and adamant, gripping tight to her jeans and shifting in the plush leather seats of John’s plane. His pride and joy, something only him and his brothers had the luxury of sitting in. And now her.

He said it like it was an honor. Brought it up one night after they fucked for the first time as bride and groom. He nuzzled into her neck and kissed up her throat with a smile. “I should take you flying. Have you ever overlooked the whole Valley?” He moved back to stare into her eyes, “It’s breathtaking.”

She had admitted to him right then and there that, nope, she had never had the urge to see his homeland from sky high. Never, literally not once. Then she kissed him hard with teeth and tongue and that was the end of the conversation.

Until he brought her into his hanger three days later with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. Wearing that stupidly cute plane decorated jacket and a fucking brown leather pilot’s cap with goggles screwed on that she bought him as a joke.

He was excited and she couldn't just say no. Not when he was giving her a puppy dog stare with hands gripping tight at hers.

So, like an idiot, she agreed.

Now though, with him rolling his plane out onto the strip, preparing for takeoff, she was regretting every choice that got her up to this point. 

“I’m the best pilot in the whole county, I wouldn’t trust anyone else but myself to put us both up in the air.”

“The best?” She questioned, peering at him through a shield of her hair. 

He turned around from where he sat in the front seat (Cockpit? She wasn’t sure, it wouldn’t matter after today if they both went down in a fireball of death). “Yes.”

“Thought Nick held that title.”

His eyebrow twitched, somehow though, his smile stayed in place. 

“Or maybe Jacob, wasn’t he in the air force?”

Now John’s smile was gone, replaced with a sultry scowl that had her scooching forward just to plant a kiss on the corner of his lips. “I assume you’re joking.”

Rook laughed, forgetting for a moment about where she was sitting when she tipped their heads together. “If I say yes and declare you the best pilot in the state, can I leave?”

He deflated at her words, pulling away to turn around in his seat. “I’m not going to force you.” His voice dropped down to a whisper, hands fiddling with the wheel. “But it’s a glorious sight from way up there.” His head slammed back to stare at the open sky, clear without any clouds. “And I’d never put you in harms way. If I really thought this was dangerous, or I incapable, I wouldn’t do this.” 

“I--okay.”

He stiffened. “Okay?”

“Yeah. Yes, lets go. Fly John.”

He bit his lip, glancing over his shoulder to catch her eyes. She could see how hard he was trying to conceal a smile. He failed a second later, lips splitting into a wide grin as he wiggled in his seat, fingers flexing before he breathed in deep.

Rook was still terrified, she was hunched in on herself, curling up into a ball in the confined space as she felt them rise into the air. 

She heard John’s chair squeak when he glanced behind him to look at her. “C’mon Rook, open your eyes.” He prodded gently. Suddenly his hand was on her forearm, squeezing her skin in reassurance. That action was enough to make her eyes fly open.

“The fuck are you doing? Put both your hands back on the---” Her eyes darted to the left, skipping over John’s wide gaze to catch the scenery flying by them. “Oh.” Her whole body deflated as she took in Holland Valley from up high. 

She glanced over to him, seeing that smile that shone with pride. 

Rook shifted closer to the window, hand pressed flat on the glass to risk looking down. His hand was still on her arm, rubbing circles into her skin when she still jumped at the way the plane shook. “We’re fine. See?” 

She nodded, silent as she took it in. He was right, it was beautiful, absolutely breathtaking from this angle. She looked over at him and she saw how confident he looked. So at home in the sky. Like he belonged there.

She wanted to kiss him. To pour out her love and confess such a thing to him even if he was already well aware.

Really, she wanted to do a lot more than a kiss, come to think of it. 

“Land the plane.”

“Wha---I thought--you seemed so--”

“John. I think I wanna fuck you.”

There was a beat of silence. Then another. Then the plane began to lose altitude. She laughed, moving to kiss as his neck from behind. “Thank you for everything you’ve given me.”


	58. Jacob/Staci Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacob develops a crush on Staci before everything goes to hell with the arrest

Jacob had caught sight of him once or twice when they first arrived in Hope County. Nothing more than a curt hello had even been said to the man. And as far as first impressions went, John was the one who had forced that interaction, wanting to leave a good mark on the locals, give them a good memory to associate with their name. And where better to start than those down at the small, underdeveloped police department? John claimed that having connections was important, that it would come in handy down the road. That alone hadn’t been enough to sway Jacob, the fierce protective tug in his heart about leaving John when they just reunited, did the rest of the job. 

Joseph hung back with the people they dragged along from Georgia, working on housing arrangements lest they all freeze to death come nighttime in the frigid mountain air, and Jacob met Staci Pratt. A short little thing who wore his hair tied back with loose strands tickling his chin. He was friendly enough considering Jacob’s rap sheet with law enforcement, with a smile that told them both he was more than willing to make them feel at home.

A man raised up to be accepting even to people who looked dodgy and appeared out of nowhere planning on forming a church off of the ground. Jacob didn’t trust the kindness Staci gave so willingly, he didn’t like his smiles that could be used to hide bad intentions. 

John shook his hand nonetheless, walking out holding onto Jacob’s shoulder with a promise to be back later to meet the rest of the team, saying to Jacob when they reached his car, “He was nice. Friendly too, yeah? Joe picked a good spot.”

Jacob nodded once, end of discussion from the glimpse of a man he never expected to have another interaction with again. John had lectured him once about staying out of trouble, concern drawing lines in his face that made him look much older than he actually was. 

The second time he saw Staci was less pleasant, more awkward without John’s finesse and skill to hide behind. John dragged in everyone’s attention, whether that was good or bad, it got the job done. Without him, alone at a beat-up gas station in need of repairs--like the rest of Hope County--Jacob felt defensive. Too tense for the simple task of filling up his tank. 

Grunting in acknowledgement when Staci waved a hello should have put the younger man off. It should’ve and yet it didn’t. Maybe it only sparked his curiosity about the strangers who entered his hometown, probably had him wondering why he wasn’t eager like his brothers seemed to be. 

He was kind. Such a sickly sweet breed of a man, the type he wasn’t used to. Jacob didn’t like what awful thoughts that drudged up, the kind that reminded him of people could deceive and trick. It also gave way to thoughts that made him wonder if this wasn’t a good idea. It had him thinking that he wasn’t made for whatever life Joseph had spoke of, he was a soldier, and so far he couldn’t even manage in the sorry excuse for a society Hope County was. In truth, he should be trying harder. He knew that was what John or Joseph would have said, they’d push him when he could never push himself.

He was never one to like being uncomfortable, tried to avoid it as much as possible. So he ignored Staci’s next question, slipping inside his car to get the fuck away.

That was as far as their conversations went in the first few months. With Jacob only seeing him from afar after that. Once at the bar when John went down there one too many time, enough to catch his attention. Another time at the station when they were the last to see a woman who Jacob swore up and down he didn’t know the name of--that made Jacob think history was bound to repeat itself, that the Seeds would be forced to pack up again because of another false accusation. Staci was understanding during that stressful time, too nice for his own good.

Then years came and went. It added up to three, with barbeques the Seed family was begrudgingly invited to, with midnight parties to boot--alcohol filling the area and Jacob’s belly, making him looser than he had been in a while.

Jacob decided that’s where it started. With him drunk, smiling at people and cracking jokes, leaving his brothers’ sides for once to mingle with the residents, to ease their fears with answers to the questions they were dying to ask.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when Pratt stepped into their little circle of people chatting about nothing and everything. But suddenly it was just him and the scrawny deputy a whole foot shorter than Jacob, not wearing his uniform of course, but he recognized the slight man. Looking just as drunk as Jacob, shoulders slumped and stepping too close to him when he spoke next. 

Some corny line about not seeing him around much, that he didn’t take Jacob as much of a party person. 

He granted the man a laugh, looking down at his fifth? Six? beer, smiling with teeth and saying something that was just as cringy as whatever lame pickup Staci delivered. Because that’s what he was trying to do, right? Pick him up? Woo him? 

It’d been a while, Jacob wasn’t sure. 

It sounded like a good idea. The alcohol in his veins made it seem like a good idea when he wrangled Staci in close by the nape of his neck like he was a dog, jerking his head to the front of the yard where he knew no one was. 

“Ever been fucked by a soldier, pretty boy?”

Jacob had never been one to use his military status to get a quick fuck, unless his one night stands brought it up and he realize he could attack that weakness and have them moaning, and he never thought himself gay either, but alcohol. The alcohol made him want to see Staci flushed from something other than being drunk, most of all he wanted to get his rocks off.

He was getting sick of the calluses on his palm against his dick. It was greed that pushed him in the beginning.

Doing it with someone he considered a stranger was nothing he wasn’t used to. Being thrown on his ass to fend for himself after he gave his life in the Army, he was used to picking things up to make it a good night. Nothing different except the face and location.

He wasn’t sure when it turned into something more than that. When the face he longed for had too long hair that Jacob always grabbed, a slim waist and could bruise easily.

Maybe around the fifth time, when Staci stayed the night, both of them blaming it on how drunk he was, with Jacob wrangling him in close around his waist, grumbling about him getting into a car wreck on his way home that was too far for convenient nights like the ones they began sharing.

Then he was leaving shit over at Jacob’s house, shirts and pants, a stray sock he’d bitch about later for forgetting when he left in the early morning light.

Then there were the countless dinners Joseph insisted his new ‘friend’ come to, over at John’s. And the sermons he could tell Staci was never really in to.

They got too tangled up in each others shit. Jacob offering a shoulder to cry on when Staci’s mother died, or when his sister miscarried, even caring enough to swing by his place when he could hear the crushing disappointment in his voice that he didn’t get the promotion he had been working towards for months.

Staci returned the favor ten fold. He took on Jacob’s baggage like a champ. Understanding the twisted past that Joseph revealed when Jacob wasn’t forthcoming. He didn’t ask about the night terrors or the large beast of a dog that sat by his side of the bed, ready at a moments notice for Jacob to reach over to bury his fingers into his soft fur.

He accepted him. And it made Jacob realize that the tingling in his stomach was more than the initial rush of lust he was so used to.

He had a crush. Something meant for pimple faced schoolboys who weren’t thinking years in advanced because all they could focus on was the person in front of them that made hearts shine in their eyes. It was never meant for war torn veterans with a religious fueled agenda still in the works, unbeknownst to everyone who fully considered the Seeds apart of the community.

Jacob still remembers the betrayal he saw in Pratt’s eyes when he was captured, yanked from a burning helicopter to be shoved to the ground on the floors of the church that was built way back when that never arose any suspicions. 

In his mind he was doing the younger man a favor by taking him in, by raising his voice with a curt nod to Joseph that he’ll take Deputy Pratt. He avoided Staci’s eyes when he spoke, not wanting to see the confusion there, or the hurt at using such a distancing name when pet names fell off his lips so easily before this whole mess.

Staci was scared from the beginning. Jacob could tell. And he couldn’t blame him. Staci didn’t know about the kind of man Jacob would become when he was leading his soldiers. He wasn’t aware of how mean he could be, that he was merciless when he wanted.

So when they passed by all those cages, Jacob’s heart tugged in pain at how Staci shuffled closer to him. Trembling and so scared.

He decided he didn’t like the look of fear on Staci’s face.

*****  
“I...I don’t understand.”

Jacob shifted on his feet, arms moving to cross over his chest. He kept his face carefully blank. “You need somewhere to sleep Pratt.”

“Yeah.” He agreed shakily, probably fearful that any show of refusal meant that this present would be yanked out from under him. “Why?”

Jacob’s lips twitched beneath his beard, he bit down on his tongue for half a second, “Why do you need somewhere to sleep?” It was a joke, something sarcastic and stupid that he would have said months ago when they were lying in bed and turning into something more than friends with benefits. 

For a moment he forgot their respective roles and let the Jacob that Staci knew peak out.

It made Staci blink at him, a quizzical look coming over his face as he shook his head slowly. “Why aren’t I locked up. Or..or, starved. Training, like your brother said.”

He didn’t have an answer to that. At least not one that he could tell Staci. So instead he crossed the room--so large and way more luxurious than what any other prisoner was given--to grab at his neck and pull him in close until their chests collided. 

Jacob kissed him. Ran his teeth down his neck hungrily before throwing him backwards onto the bed. “This ain’t all for your benefit Pratt, m’not that nice.” He laughed cruelly, a sound that made Pratt curl in on himself. “I’m sure you got your uses locked up in here, away from prying eyes.” 

Jacob hated to lie to them both. It made his gut churn from what could have been.


	59. John/Rook Stunned Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook is really surprised the first time John Seed manages to pick her up. Just slings her over his shoulders - fucking caveman style

Rook was in a state of complete and utter shock. He had literally stunned her into silence. A feat she was sure even he never thought was possible.

All it had took was him being angry, so fucking angry. Boiling with rage directed at her for destroying his silos, the fifth one, he bit out at her with a snarl--because yes, he was still talking through her shock--too angry to realize how her mind was in a whirlwind.

She was still trying to figure out how he managed to heave her off her ass and over his shoulder so effortlessly, not groaning to indicate any strain was put on his muscles.

But he was...he was so...lanky. From what she’s seen over tight fitting clothes, he has such a slim waist and tiny, noodle arms. Fuck, if any Seed managed to haul her off the ground, she’d go for Jacob. He thighs could crush her head like a watermelon. But John, no, that hadn’t crossed her mind. She probably would have put Joseph as a better contender for this kind of thing.

“You’re not even gonna say anything deputy? Maybe when we get continue your confession you’ll be more forthcoming. You’ll tell me why you feel the need for such wrath. What have I done to you to warrant---”

“Are you tired?”

She had to know. He was walking up a hill, legs eating up the terrain in front of them. She’d be able to understand the situation if he was getting winded. He’d live up to her expectations perfectly. And maybe that low churning feeling of warmth in her stomach wouldn’t be so prevalent. The thought of John being strong enough to manhandle her was fluttering through her head, and she wished he would just answer her instead of stretching out the silence. 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I’m 150 pounds.”

“Ah.” There was a pause. “What?” Now he stopped. Just stopped moving up the hill that seemed to stretch on forever. He took that moment to shift her in his arms from how she was thrown over his shoulder. It drew her up higher, had her fingers scrambling to grab at something, eventually settling for the hem of his pants. The action didn’t have him falling to the ground like she thought it would.

“Has Jacob been training with you?”

“Deputy.” He sounded impatient, reigning in his anger before it created a worse problem for them both.  _ “What?”  _ The man had the audacity to jostle her. Shaking her in his tight hold, making her have the sudden fear that the ground was about to come crashing closer. The yelp she let out was indignant and not at all what she wanted him to hear.

“Oh what the fuck.”

John laughed, a second later starting to walk again with a little more pep in his step. “Oh, I’ve surprised you now, haven’t I?” There was a smugness in his voice that had her breathing in through clenched teeth.

“You’re scrawnier than Faith.”

He shifted her weight to his other fucking shoulder like it was nothing--maybe to prove a point that he was not as small as his little sister-- moving her around as if those muscles on his right side had gotten tired and it was nothing more than a passing thought than to distribute her to his left side. “I assume that’s not your lust talking.”   
  
“No.” She breathed. “No it’s really not.” God she was lying. He wasn’t aware of that from the way he kept speaking, but the rolling feeling in her stomach was enough to go by, that yes, her lust was showing itself.

“Gotta say, I think I can live with making you speechless, it’s truly a sight to behold.”

“You can’t see me John, not when you threw me over your shoulder like a deer.” She bit her tongue, holding back on the part in how it was the way she preferred lugging around dead bodies. She didn’t need him questioning her on that front.

“You know what,” He stopped again, head swiveling and eyes sharp with mischief. “You’re right. I can’t see you, not with the way you are. My fault, really deputy, I’ll take the blame for that.” He was rambling. Filling the empty air as he moved her again, going oh so slowly when he hefted her off his shoulder and into his open arms. Holding her bridal style with a sharp smile.

Blood rushed to her cheeks when she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, still scared of suddenly dropping when his arms gave out. Though it didn’t look like that was going to happen anytime soon, and that made things worse for her. Because, fuck, it was hot. John Seed wasn’t supposed to be strong, and the newfound discovery stoked a fire inside her that made her hide her burning face into his neck.

She pointedly ignored his laughter, ignored how it made her gut churn with want and how his suggestive comments on how he’d be more than happy to make her blush like that once they got home--home, not his bunker like he first suggested.

This was how she died then, in the arms of a man who was literally two inches shorter than her. She was really doing a disservice to Hope County.

 


	60. Joseph/Rook Rough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook and Joseph have been dating for quite some time, and when the time comes for them to lie together, Joseph isn't just in charge of the situation, he's a rough fuck.

Joseph was in no way a violent man. For as long as she knew him she had been witness to just how caring he was for the world around him. He cried for the hardships of animals and people alike, she had seen him empathize with all members of his flock no matter the situation. He was so fucking kind, he had a large heart with a sweet mind, and it was one of the many things that first drew her to the man he claimed to be.

He was gentle in every sense of the word.

Which is why her eyes were blown wide in surprise, hands frozen on his bare hips as he hovered over top of her when he shoved her down--an act that was so not gentle. He pushed her down with his hands on her shoulders, straddling her in the blink of an eye, using his weight to keep her in place. 

The sudden strength he possessed came out of nowhere. Unleashed when she led him into the bedroom they had been sharing for six months. She was ready to be the one on top, to tug at his hands to direct him right where she wanted him--maybe encourage him with dirty words that would make his cheeks burn red. He was a lenient preacher, merciful too, what she expected from him. So she assumed he wouldn’t have lust in his eyes or have the power behind each bite he gave to her neck.

“You can be docile for me, can’t you Rook?” He leaned in close, breath tickling her throat when he nipped at her skin, biting down hard enough to bruise. He grinded down on her, rolling his hips roughly onto her inner thigh. Coating her skin with precum. “You’re always so wild. Make me wonder if you know how to be submissive. For tonight, I’m in charge.” The absolute possessiveness that laced through his voice was accented when he grabbed her jaw with callused fingers. The kiss his gave her was all teeth, something she remembers from past lovers in college and one night stands from bigger, badder men than Joseph. 

It wasn’t familiar with him. Every time he kissed her it was soft and tender, the most adventurous he’d get would be a tongue swiping along her bottom lip.

Now he was bold. Exploring her in a way she never thought he’d have the balls to do. His hands were greedy, running up and down her sides, squeezing her hips and grabbing at the meat of her thighs. He rolled the flesh appreciatively, moving down the length of her body to bend over and lay kisses to her skin. It was peppered in with bites, sharp teeth that made her squirm.

“I want you on you stomach. Hands and knees.” He murmured his words into the apex of her thigh. Eyes flicking up to hers. He didn’t give her time to react, or to even consider his demand or give her time to question why his voice had darkened. He flipped her over with ease, manhandling her and leaving bruises in the shape of his fingers.

It was hotter than it had any right to be.

“Stay put.” He climbed his way back up her body, nipping at her neck and grinding into her again. Rutting between her ass like an animal. “You’re going to stay right there darling, stay there for me and let me show you a proper fuck.” The profanity had her hips wriggling. Eager.

The movement was apparently too much for Joseph going by the heavy hand that slapped at her ass a second later. “Stay.”

Rook swallowed hard. Eyes slamming closed. Not only was Joseph the opposite of gentle, he was rough. 

His hands gripped at her hips, leaving half moons from his nails. He raised her hips suddenly, lifting her off the bed and onto her knees. She buried her head into a pillow, teeth gripping onto the fabric when she felt the press of Joseph’s cock nudge at her entrance. 

“You’ll take me, won’t you?” He slipped inside her, rolling experimentally and chuckling under his breath when she whined. “No, you don’t need to be prepped. You’ll just take, and take, until there is no more.” Then he was all the way inside her with a sharp thrust. One that had the bed jostling and slamming against the wall.

He set a fast pace from there. Giving her no time to adjust. Pounding into her, making obscene noises sound out throughout their room. His arm came around suddenly to press against her windpipe, yanking her head back and up so her head was resting in the center of his chest. 

His teeth were bared, a snarl rising from his lips as he managed a brisk kiss to her lips that drew blood. 

“I always wondered if abstinence would ever be worth it in the end.” His free hand moved from her waist to underneath her, delving between her legs to play with her clit using two fingers large. Not swirling gently on her bud. Moving fast, stroking at her clit and leaving a trail of fire behind. “I guess I have my answer, hm?”

Rook whined again, louder this time. Crying out when his fingers brushed along sensitive nerves. 

“I asked a question.” His harsh tone was punctuated with a finger tracing her entrance. Right next to where he still filled her. “Don’t ignore me.” He bit her neck, a single finger sliding inside beside his cock. Stretching her wider than she thought possible. 

Her hips bucked, squirming in protest. “Y-yes.” She stammered. “Yes. Worth it.” She was breathless, unable to form any more words than that as he kept pounding into her. 

She came when another finger was added. Not needing him to continue his touch on her clit for every muscle in her body to tighten. Not like he stopped, ignoring her pleas for how sensitive she suddenly was. He Rubbed at her bundle of nerves after she convulsed around his cock. Squeezing him, making him spill into her. His arm tightened around her neck, cutting off her air supply for a second too long before he released her.

Joseph collapsed on top of her in a single breath. His hands brushed along her back, rubbing between her shoulder blades reverently. They shared each other's company like that for so long that she almost fell asleep. She was beginning to doze off, ready to drift away beneath him. 

“Did I hurt you?”

The question caught her off guard, made her blink rapidly despite not being able to see him at her angle. 

“It’s been so long, and I--” He sucked in a shaky breath. Hugging her closer. “I didn’t scare you, did I?”

She laughed at that. Nudging him off so she could lay facing him, chin resting on his chest. She kissed him in lieu of answering, throat ruined from the treatment he gave her. “Don’t go shy on me now, Joseph. I’m gonna be disappointed if I don’t see that performance next time around.”

His cheeks turned a dusty pink--the kind she expected at the beginning of this ordeal--a nervous laugh slipped free. He pressed into the offering of her kiss. A simple affirmation of what was to come later.


	61. John/Rook Tunes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John finding Rook singing his own song

Her head was tipped down in concentration, focused on her feet stepping one after the other on the thin metal guardrail. Her arms were held out on either side of her in an attempt to not fall onto the asphalt inches below. She stood out like a sore thumb with her balancing act, John could see her from where he sat in an unmarked car fifteen feet away.

This was who managed to escape his brother and their men last night. She was tall, sure, but he couldn’t see any muscles. And considering the spectacle she was making of herself, John figured she couldn’t be too smart. Her self preservation sucked. It was a wonder she managed to elude them.

He had half the mind to stroll up to her and tell her so.

The sound of her voice is what stopped him from jumping out of her when he stalked closer. It was soft and lilting, not exactly speaking--there wasn’t anyone around for miles for her words to be directed towards--she was singing. It was almost a whisper, but the tune was so recognizable.

It brought a smile to his lips. Made him briefly forget that less than 24 hours ago this woman was pitted against them, ready to arrest his brother. 

“Oh John...Oh John. Bold and brave. He's finding us a family. He's teaching us to fend. Oh John... Oh John, keep us safe. He's gonna march us right through Eden's Gate. Oh Lord, he's gonna march us right through Eden's Gate.” 

He laughed at what he heard, following three steps behind her, hidden in the trees to her left. 

She paused in her footsteps, making his whole body lock up, afraid she had heard him. But her head was still down, and her lip was grabbed between sharp teeth in concentration. Her body swayed, close to losing her footing. She--Rook--he reminded himself--breathed in a deep lungful of air, that impish, pure smile falling back on her face when she regained her balance and could start up the second verse.

“Come mothers and come fathers. Come caring and come fierce. You've gotta see this for yourself if you can't believe your ears. The blessing just takes minutes, but it lasts a thousand years. Through holy water, there can be no tears.”

Now she was the one laughing, giggling at her own rendition of his song, which he could hear was slightly out of tune. The beat lagging behind what it should be. But for someone who had recently entered Hope County, he was impressed. 

And of course, he was flattered. 

With so many songs to choose from, she was singing his. The one that spoke of the baptist, the inquisitor, the one meant to save them all.

John hummed through the chorus as she sang it aloud. Still blissfully unaware of his presence. Now her head was up, hair flying in the breeze behind her, eyes--a mixture of blue and green from what he could see--was flickering past the scenery.

The guardrail she was using as a tightrope was coming to an end, he could see it up ahead. And he couldn’t help but realize just how close they were to his ranch. Right near the billboard he put up a lifetime ago with his face plastered on the front.

Would she be pleased to see his face in all that paint? Would she smile and laugh? Or would she be curious of who was really behind that dazzling smile?

Or maybe he was reading too much into this and she only liked music, not him or the meaning deep in those words.

John could still hold onto hope. Because he’s pretty sure he was in love.

He leaned on a tree as she hopped down, feet landing on the road with a soft thump. She readjusted the bag on her shoulders, collapsing down on the grass to lean against a tree, so near to him that he could see the light freckles dotting her cheeks.

“Come elders and come children. Come wisdom and come fire. You've gotta see how strong you'd be when you're free of all desire. A countryman of promise but you cannot trust the liar.  
You've gotta work and step into the choir.”

Her head fell back, basking in the sun and enjoying the peace. That’s when he stepped out into the light. He walked in front of her, blocking out the sun and creating a shadow over her that had her shuddering with the sudden chill. Her eyes snapped open, brows pulled down in momentary confusion. 

She screamed. After all the admiration that spilled from her lips, she had the gall to scream in partial shock and terror.

Suddenly she was up close to him, on her feet in the blink of an eye to fucking hit him. Out of nowhere came a goddamn wooden baseball bat to smack him across the jaw. He landed on his ass, head knocking onto a rock with enough force to give him a concussion. All he heard was her running footsteps, probably creating a puff of dust with how quick she was leaving the scene.

All John could do was laugh. Fucking hell, yeah...he was in lov


	62. Jacob/Rook Stay A Little Longer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacob and Rook have had a consistent series of one night stands going for a while now. Though in Jacob's opinion, she leaves a little too soon. He thinks he wants something more from what they started

She was already up and out of bed, stealing her warmth as she crossed his office bare. Her feet padded against the tiled floor, oh so quiet as she got dressed. Bending over and offering him one last delicious view before she moved towards the window she came through an hour ago.

He kept silent, watching her gather her things and avoid his eyes.

She said she’d never do this again--that was a month ago. He saw the guilt all over her face after she came that very first time they laid together. Scrambling to get off his dick like his fingertips on her hips were hurting her and not the gentle presence he forced them to be.

That guilt was mostly gone now. Replaced with disgust for herself. Jacob Seed wasn’t a man of pity, so he pushed that foreign feeling down to toss his head back against the pillows. He stretched, a groan pulling free before he clambered out of bed well before she had a chance to leave.

That was new.

A change in what their routine had become. It caught her attention, had her frozen with her breasts only partially covered with her dirty shirt.

“What? Up for round two, Rook? Standing there like that still exposed.”

She huffed, yanking down her shirt with an air of annoyance. Her boots were yanked on with her leaning against the wall, already fiddling with the latch of his window, ready to leave, almost looking scared at what he was doing up and about when he always rolled over to sleep. Maybe, and only maybe, barking out at her when to meet him again, knowing she’d come back to him. Expecting her for a visit whenever she damn well pleased.

Now he was wandering around his tiny kitchen, still naked, not bothering to be ashamed of the moonlight accenting his skin when she’s seen it all. With his back to her, his fingers fumbled with the way too expensive coffee maker that stood out of place in his barren room. She didn’t see how he was shaking, that he was clumsy in how he moved.

“Want some coffee ‘fore ya go?”

“Jacob.” Her voice was quiet. He had a feeling it wasn’t for the sake of making sure no one heard her. It sounded tired. He was tempted to ask her to rest before she ran off back to his brother’s region.

He bit down on his words when he heard her lifting her bag off the ground with a grunt. Only half turning to watch her movements.

“Don’t do that, Jacob.” 

“Do what?”

“Make this into something.” She paused, climbing out his window, moving the fuck away from this subject. “It’s not. We’re just fucking.”

He laughed, hid his disappointment by turning back around and pressing a few buttons. “And this is just coffee.” He held up a steaming cup, sliding one onto the table, praying and hoping she’d be decent enough to pull the other half of her body back into his room to grab the cup before it slid off the desk, and she wasn’t even--

She watched it fall. Didn’t say a damn thing as the mug glided past maps and documents before spilling all over the floor.

Rook left. No words--as per their usual. It was the same as every other night. So why did he feel sorry for himself?

*****

“Leaving?” His hand trailed over her hip, up her ribs to brush over ticklish skin. It had her wiggling away from him, close to falling off the bed. It gave him an excuse to pull her in close to his chest. “Already?”

“Were you planning on doing something else?” She curled into him, head resting on his sternum. She feigned interest, a hand pressing flat to his skin. 

 

“Nah.”

The silence that stretched out was awkward, and he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why. 

Rook stood, pushing away at his groping hands with a laugh, like this was some kind of joke. There was a swell of anger inside him, bubbling up and directed more at himself then at her. Because he wanted her, there was no way he could hate her for not realizing that his intentions were no longer directed at exploring her body. 

He got out of bed again, slumping over with hunched shoulders. Head tipped down as he listened to her change.

“What? Don’t like to watch the show anymore?”

Jacob bit the inside of his cheek. Lifting his shoulders up to shrug. 

“Jacob.”

He kept his head down, willing her to leave. To just walk out like she had been doing since every single time they finished. She surprised him when she pulled him in for one last kiss before she left for the night, it was the closest they’ve ever got to saying goodbye. It made his heart pound too fast, making him feel like a young man again. 

*****

“You’ve gone quiet.”

“Just thinking.”

Rook paused, pushing away from where she was knelt between his legs, and no, that made panic rise in his chest. So he was wrapping his legs around her lower back to pull her down, jerking his head towards his cock, still resting hard against his stomach. 

She smoothed her hand up his thigh, avoiding where her mouth had been moments before. “Never been distracted before.” She observed softly, taking it too personally judging from the faraway look in her eyes.

He felt more hollow than ever when he came, uncaring as she went the extra mile to swallow his seed despite complaining about the taste months ago.

Jacob leaned on the wall, near the window that was practically hers, wanting to stop her before she left. Hoping to make that kiss something they could add into the routine.

“Jacob.” She had a hand on his shoulder, rubbing the scars littered there. Waiting until he looked at her. “Coffee?”

That caught him off guard, had him floundering for something to say. Eventually he settled for a bland, “Yeah.”

Another thing that became apart of their schedule. They fucked in the dead of night, he made them coffee as she showered and they sat in such peaceful silence, with her bidding him a farewell kiss like they were forbidden lovers. Once she fell asleep in his lap with her head resting beneath his chin.

He held her close in a bear hug, almost unwilling to let her go when she woke in a panic, angry that he hadn’t woken her up so she could leave before the sun rose.

He wasn’t sorry, so he didn’t apologize.

Rook didn’t see him next week, or the week after that, or the next. Then two months went by until she saw him again. Making coffee instead of pulling him into bed when she slipped inside quietly.

It was uncomfortable, going by the smile hanging on the corners of her lips, she knew that.

“I spoke to John.” 

He rose an eyebrow at that, unspeaking as he sipped the too sweet coffee she gave him. “Any new tattoos?”

“No.” She laughed--he loved that sound--“No, it wasn’t that kind of talk. Actually, it wasn’t about me.”

He stayed quiet, letting her get halfway through her drink before she decided to speak again. “It was about you.” She paused, waiting to see his reaction, shaking her head when he didn’t prod. “He invited me for dinner, did you know that man can cook? Surprised the shit outta me.”

“Your point, deputy.”

Her mug clattered into the sink when she tossed it, striding confidently towards him with a sway in her hips. “My point,” She let her fingers travel across his jaw, “Is that he had some interesting things to say about you. About how you’ve been acting weird. So distant recently. Distracted too. I got chewed out by your baby brother, him thinking that I’ve done something awful to you.”

“Haven’t you?” Jacob wrangled a forearm across her lower back to pull her close, he bent down to nip at her neck angrily. 

“No. I don’t think so. Neither did John once we were done talking. He’s got some theories. As do I.”

Jacob snorted, “What would those theories be?”

“He says you love me. That your actions may not be as lustful as he thought. Then Joseph said something about us living out our years together through the Collapse with children of our own and I sorta lost interest.”

Jacob’s eyes had grown wide throughout her speil, literally reeling back to listen to what she was saying. “You’ve been thinking about this for how long?”

“Two weeks. Figured you’d come running if you really loved me, but then John reminded me that you’re...well, you.” She smiled up at him, kissing at his lips with a softness he hasn’t felt in years. “You gotta tell me what you want from this Jacob. If this isn’t just fucking.”

“Coffee.” 

Her mouth opened, then closed, eyebrows scrunching in confusion.

“Kidding. It was a joke.”

She nodded once, “I wasn’t.” There was something sincere in her eyes, something he couldn't place. That made him glance over his shoulder towards his bed. Thinking of the kind of thing he’s wanted to do since he felt the first stirring of those foreign feelings in his gut. 

“How do you feel about cuddling, deputy?”


	63. Jacob/Rook Burnt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacob gets burned and Rook tends to it

She didn’t even know he had been following her, apparently trailing her for what had been miles back ever since she crossed county lines and was foolish enough to appear on his radar.

At least Rook didn’t know until she tossed an explosive on one of his beacons meant to trap wolves and she heard a blood curdling scream. It shook Rook right to her core, afraid for a second that some helpless civilian got caught in the blast from wandering too close and she didn’t have the foresight to check the area. That one would be hard to explain to Eli.

She was quick on her feet, running around the debris of metal to help whoever she just injured. Apologies already on her tongue, radio unclipped from her belt, ready to call anyone near the radio in the Wolf’s Den, about to tell them to scrounge up whatever medical supplies they had left for the poor man who was cursing up a storm.

Her eyes landed on a bright red tuft of hair. A man was squirming under the metal that had gone flying, hissing through clenched teeth and patting at his jeans furiously. From the smoke rising where his hand laid on his thigh, she could assume what happened. 

Jacob was trapped, legs--not broken, he bit out at her when she asked--twisted under hunks of heavy rubble that made it safe for her to come closer. 

He filled her in then and there, let her know how he had been watching her, trying to rattle her she guessed. And it worked. Made her angry too, had her itching to take a swing at him when he was down. 

Instead she set to work, crouched down beside him with pointed eyes on his frayed jeans, frayed only because of the fire that must’ve latched onto him. 

“That was stupid of you.” She said softly, batting away his hands to press down on his skin, already feeling hot to the touch. Maybe a third degree burn, she wasn’t a doctor. However bad it was, it was enough to have him writhing when she moved fast to cut a hole in his jeans, it was bad to the point where his skin was peeling off into her hands.

She jerked back, surprised at the burning flesh now on the ground along with the laugh he gave.

He leaned back on his elbow, head tilted towards the sky as his eyes slipped close. “Just another to add to the collection, huh?” He waved her off when she scrambled to peek inside her bag for anything that might make the situation less worse than it already was. “Don’t bother. No reason to.” He held up his forearm, as if that was enough of a point for her to not treat his skin.

“You could get an infection.” It was a weak defense, especially when her voice sounded so breathless. But it did seem to sway him, had him wince and groan in annoyance under his breath.

“That’d suck.”

She shook her head in disbelief, surprised on how a man who’s trademark was what a survivalist he claimed to be, was taking this whole thing on the chin. “No point in having to deal with that.” She moved quick to drag out a heap of medical supplies she’s raided from various houses in Hope County. Head tipped down to focus on the exposed flesh of his thigh and not his probing gaze.

“No point in having to deal with the injury? Or the scarring that’d come after?”

“Both.” She answered curtly, pausing in her movements when he sucked in air from the pain. “Can’t see why you’d want more scars.”

“Never said I did.” It came out as a whisper, almost like he was offended and considering walking off. “If this shit happened to you--someone so young--I’d bother with this mess.” He gestured to the gauze and cream she had balanced in her hands. “You’d wanna stop something fresh from gaining something that would mar it for good.”

“But you’re Jacob Seed and you deserve this?” 

“No.” He laughed, tipping his head back to look up at the sky. “No, but I’m already ruined. Destroyed so to speak. No point, not like you can reverse this damage.” Once again he brandished her arm for her to see. Going as far as to brush his fingers along his cheek to draw her attention to the burns there.

“I’d like to think they’re important.” She glanced up at him, returning back to the task at hand when the look he gave her was one she didn’t want to face. “They tell a story, make you who you are.” She pulled back from him, forcing herself not to apologize for ripping a hole in his jeans. She shouldn’t have to remind herself that he was the enemy. 

This moment between them was strange, it didn’t mean anything though. It wouldn’t if she just ignored it.

So she stood on shaking legs, brushing dirt off her pants and rubbing behind her neck to work away tense muscles. For a fleeting moment she thought about showing him her own scars. The ones she put on herself years ago that made criss cross lines on her thighs and upper arms, or the ones dotting her upper back in irregular circles that were raised and an ugly pink despite gaining them when she was just a kid.

She sighed, long and slow. Surprising them both by offering a hand to help him up. She wasn’t much help, so much smaller than him, unable to really lift him when he was pure muscle. The thought was there though, it even had him flash something she dared to call a smile. 

“You’re gonna remind me of this next time I have you.”

Rook laughed, rocking back on her heels, already heading in the opposite direction. She hummed confirmation, saluting him as if she was a soldier. “Yep. You’re not living this down.” She clicked her tongue in joy when he gave her a confused glance. “Sweet and tender Jacob who has a heart. It’s a nice change.” 

Then she was gone, disappearing back into the wild before he could take aim at her for saying such a thing.


	64. John/Rook Loving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John has always dreamed of having a loving wife and family of his own, and his eyes are on the Rook

John was a man of action. 

A man of his word too. But when he held her close late that night in the depths of his bunker, a smile curving his lips up as he pressed wet kisses to her neck, telling her of how he’d make her his--she didn’t believe him.

It had been naive to think he wouldn’t come back to finish off his promise.

What had he said again? The whole day had been fuzzy from how tired she was. Though it was something about fucking her until she was raw, until she was leaking, absolutely dripping and unable to hold anything else he could give her. He’d keep her sated and by his side when she was round with his child.

He ranted about having a spawn of his own running around until she dozed off. When she woke, he was gone. And she had forgotten all about the strange encounter with him rubbing his blunt nails up and down her ribs.

Until now. Now, when he had come back three days later with a bright smile and a dangerous gleam in his eyes. Standing in the doorway, blocking her in with the loud slam of metal against metal as locks clicked into place to keep her trapped. 

He had a bag under his arm, something brown and dilapidated, like it had been thrown in a basement to be forgotten about for years. Pulled out at just the right moment for when he needed it. Which happened to be now, with him stalking closer and looming over her from where she sat on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest.

Even in her half curled up state with hesitation in her eyes, John wasn’t dissuaded. He disregarded the look of concern she gave him when he climbed onto the bed to join her, shushing her when she kicked out at him as a show of anger. 

“Quell that feeling for now darling. Focus on me.”

She did as he asked, reminding herself idly that it was for nothing more than self preservation, needing to watch him carefully to see his next move.

That move happened to be his hands on his belt, he bit into his lip like he was nervous when he slid the leather out from the loops of his jeans. Up on his knees he managed to shuck off his pants, he wasn’t exactly hard, but she could tell he was getting there. Already aroused from whatever dirty images were playing in his head before he waltzed in late at night.

“You won’t fight me, will you Rook?” His eyes flicked down to her stomach, narrowing slightly, “This needs to happen, you must know that.” His tongue darted out to wet his chapped lips when he shuffled closer, hands already starting to fiddle with the buttons on his vest. “I’m not quite sure if you took my seed properly last time.”

An explanation in the sloppiest of forms. Telling her simply what scenarios he had planned to act out.

And he expected her to slip into the role of his wife and soon to be mother of a child she never asked for. No reason for her not to give him hell while he did it, because truthfully she knew she wouldn’t be able to fend him off for long, if at all.

He was shoving her down before she had a chance to react. Pushing onto her shoulders to hold her into place while he yanked off the rest of his clothes, leaving him bare and pressed too close to her.

John’s sharp breaths were the only thing she could pay attention to, he was panting into her ear as he fiddled with the silken ties he brought with him meant for tying her up and keeping her still. “I assumed you were carrying my child, we both did, but what if you aren’t?” He pulled back when he was done with her restraints. His eyes were blown wide with excitement. “I can’t take that chance.”

That was the only explanation he gave before pouncing on her. Clawing at her clothes and ripping through them with a shiny blade flecked with blood.

“Can I assume you’ll stay still?”

He looked innocent when he asked that question, a twinkle held in his eyes as he assessed her now bare body laid before him. The knife was thrown off to the side, clattering to the floor--too far for her to reach. 

“And why should I?”

He smiled down at her, hands smoothing over her ribs. “I could tie you up, or get one of my men to hold you down.” He gasped, feigning shock, “Or, I could call Jacob and have him be the one to keep you still for me so I can breed you properly.” He kissed her when her eyes were wide, stealing her mouth to shove his tongue inside. When he broke away he was panting, “Can’t say for sure that he won’t join.”

John laughed, wrapping an arm around the small of her back to press their naked bodies together. 

“Let me take care of you.”

And take care of her he did, he went slow. Surprisingly gentle when he pushed a hand between them to guide his cock between her folds. He slipped inside with little resistance, groaning fully when he was seated fully inside.

He kept quiet, save for the way he sighed as he rocked into her. Face falling slack as if he was in heaven. She wouldn’t doubt that’s how it felt when he buried his head into the crook of her neck to whisper out some prayer she couldn’t recognize.

“God, can you imagine how grand it’ll be once my seed takes? We’ll have to throw a party I imagine.”

There was a half smile on his face, playing around his lips and easing away the worry that usually held around his eyes. She figured that if she really loved this man that she would adore seeing how utterly at home he looked inside of her, arms still pulling them close and boxing her in.

“Seeing how well you take me, you can’t now say that this isn’t meant to be.”

“You’re sick.”

He leaned down, closer to her body until they were pressed flushed together. “Maybe. But you’re no better. Not with how you’re responding.”

He was right about that, she was clenching around him. Whining through her teeth with every push. She was sweating, keening into his touch, she liked it more than she could admit. He saw that in her eyes, it mirrored his own dreamy expression.

“Darling,” he mumbled out in a groan, biting at her neck, sinking in his teeth when he released inside of her. Shoving his pelvis against hers, not letting a drop escape. Reminding her with a tired smile on how there child would be so previously loved.


	65. John/Rook Suppressants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Involving alpha!John and omega!Rook. He notices her suppressants are wearing off and decides to keep her in his bunker for her own protection

“Don’t take this personally,” John’s finger thumbed over the button on the side of his radio, hardly used except for purposes such as this one, “But deputy, you fucking reek.”

At the silence that followed he was quick to amend himself, afraid he offended her. “Not like you smell awful, just...different. Different, and something else, something that’s not like yourself. You smell so strongly that I figured it must be your suppressants playing tricks on your body.”

It had been a week since John had Rook right where he wanted her. Seven days ago she was sitting helplessly tied to a chair deep in his bunker. He had smelt her faintly then, even if it wasn’t that strong. It was there, no matter how subtle. 

Someone’s drugs were wearing off it seemed. That would explain her sudden disappearance, falling off everyone’s radar. If she wasn’t tucked away somewhere indulging in sin to fend off those feelings Mother Nature granted her, then she was at least doing it for her own safety.

“You know how dangerous it is all alone in Hope County? You’re unmated, I gleaned that much from you. Surely you know what that entails. People can get crazy with all those hormones.”

“Leave me be John. Let me die in peace.”

“Rook? What? Are you--where are you? Do you need--”

Rook chuckled dryly. “Calm down, m’not actually dying. Just feel like it. Everything’s hot. Like fire.” There was a thoughtful pause before she continued. “My cunt is fucking throbbing. Got any suggestions, ye old faithful baptist?”

“Besides turning your back on God while you touch yourself?” 

John leaned back in his chair, head tipped towards the heavens as if He would spread the clouds and give him an answer. For fuck’s sake he’s never had to really deal with this, not with women anyhow, people usually asked The Father when their heats descended upon them.

“Ice?”

“Excuse me?”

“Perhaps…” He cleared his throat, “Ice would cool you down.”

“You want me to stick ice inside my vagina.”

He hid a laugh in the sleeve of his jacket, humming a yes when his throat closed up on him. That wasn’t really what he meant to say, but the image was humourous enough. 

“I’d rather be fucked.” Rook concluded, clicking off her side of the radio to do God knows what with her down time. 

John didn’t feel any better after that conversation. He knew she was safe somewhere, that she was relatively okay. But still unmated. That didn’t sit well with him. It had him tossing and turning all night, worried someone else would get to her, hurt her badly and do something she didn’t want.

The people in Hope County were sinners. He had a feeling that with everyone’s heats closing in on them, they’d be more than okay with forcing themselves inside someone who wasn’t mated.

He sent a capture party out for her the very next day.

He trusted no one else but himself to keep her safe, that’s the explanation he used. She called him all sorts of things when the bliss was gone from her system, the one that stuck with him was when she threw a book at his head and shouted out how greedy he was.

She wasn’t wrong; he atoned in front of her. Went to where she had her own cell inside his bunker to show her how he cut into his ribs, making diagonal stripes and underlining the word of greed on his thigh. 

He smelt her apprehension. He was sure he smelt something else too, arousal in the purest of forms. 

“You’re lucky you’re here deputy, you should see how my men are off their game from having you so near to them. I slept in the control room over,” He jerked his head to the opposite wall, indicating what was on the other side. “I’m not sure how safe you are. Even with me.”

He buttoned his pants back up, hiding his bloody thigh, moving to pull his shirt down, knowing that it’d take forever to get wash out the stains. 

“I could fix that problem--”

“Doesn’t sound like that much of a problem to me. You’re keeping them at bay.”

John shook his head, anger shining through for a brief moment. “And for how long? How long do these pleasantries last until I let go of those dogs’ leashes? Maybe I’ll give them permission, or maybe I’ll just forget to lock the door.”

Rook’s scent swelled out, as if that would be enough to convince him not to carry out those kind of threats. It did something though, had the tension in his shoulders ebbing away. 

He turned away from her, hands shoved in his jeans front pockets. “Deputy, do think about what I’ve said. I only want you to be safe. That’s why you’re here, but without a mate, there’s always some level of danger.” He clicked his tongue in disappointment as he stepped out. “I won’t be there to protect you every single day.”

*****

Joseph said her sin was pride when he visited, requesting just that once that he spoke to her alone. John would be lying if he said he didn’t try to listen. Pushing his ear against the wall, body held up with his knees on an old, plush chair. 

He thought he heard Rook crying. He definitely smelt a myriad of things. Anger and sadness, a smell that turned something so sweet into something sour. 

She wasn’t his mate, and yet he was rearing to go save her from a situation that she thought was dangerous. He wasn’t too sure what Joseph told her--he was only in her cell for five minutes--but when he replaced Joseph’s spot, Rook was on him. Hugging him, a faraway look in her eyes that made his heart clench.

She was pressing her body into his side, shoving her scent his way like she wanted them to meld into one.

That was a good idea.

John’s cock thought so too. It was a hard heavy line that, if she noticed, she had the decency to ignore when she pulled him in tighter around his neck. 

“You think I’m still at risk, John?” She glanced up at him with wide eyes rimmed with tears. “I don’t want just anyone to be my mate. I always thought I got to make that choice, and now…” She shook her head violently, shoving her cheek against his chest. “Did you know what Joseph wanted me to do?”

John mumbled a no, a twinge of sympathy reaching out for how shaken she seemed with a simple five minute conversation from his brother. 

“He wanted to fuck me. He almost mated me, he was so close to doing it, I could see it in his eyes. How much he wanted it. He said it’d get rid of my pride.”

“I won’t--You don’t have to--”

She shushed him. Pressed a finger to his lips to silence his words. “I know you want that too. Just waiting on you now.” She kissed him, a simple brush of their lips that was as much of a yes as he needed.


	66. PolySeed Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Each Seed brother having a night terror and Rook comforts them, and one night where they comfort her

**John**

John didn’t have a lot to be scared of. Not when he ruled with terror veiled behind a dazzling smile. He had money and power, something that put him on top. So really, when Rook walked into his life, what was there for her to protect him from?

She almost felt useless. Or greedy, never being able to help him in return for the grandeur of a life he gifted her with, save for cooking him meals better than burnt pizza.

But when she wanted him to need her, she never meant like this. In an instant she decided she didn’t like to see him helpless. Even while asleep he looked vulnerable.

And if he wasn’t whimpering, or kicking his legs out in fear, she would have taken a moment to wonder what it was that haunted him in his dreams. What demons couldn’t he shake that held him in a choke hold?

Whatever it was, it reduced him down into a shriveling mess of a man who almost knocked her on her ass when she shook him awake and he jumped five feet in the air.

An apology was on the tip of her tongue, ready to soothe him because he looked seconds away from a panic attack. Then he was crying, absolutely sobbing, his shoulders shaking, unseeing to where she sat on the edge of the bed.

He was curling in on himself, hiding his face in cupped palms. Crying and hiccuping, scaring her when he couldn’t catch his breath.

“John?”

He startled at her voice, reeling back with pink cheeks, almost embarrassed being caught with flushed pink cheeks and tears streaming down his face. 

“You’re okay, you’re awake.” She mumbled when he turned away from her, angling his body to the side so she could no longer see his eyes. “Sweetheart, look at me.” The pet name did the trick, it made a shudder run through his body, had him shuffling slowly until she reached out to wrangle him closer.

He ended up with his head in her lap, nose nestled into her hip, taking calming breaths she guided him through with a hand smoothing through his hair.

She bent to lay a kiss to his cheek, watching his eyelids flutter at the contact, “Would a shower help?” Asked only because he was shaking like he was cold, even despite the sheen of sweat coating his skin.

But he shook his head violently, like the very thought was painful to imagine.

“Wanna talk about it?”

He whined, a sound that was high pitched and so unlike the confident man she fell in love with. “What’s there to talk about? My feelings? Just how broken I am? What good would that do me, reliving the past like that?”

His legs had been pulled up to his chest, one hand hiding the lower half of his face, the other gripping her knee. Tightening to a painful degree as he spoke.

“Dunno.” And she really didn’t. She didn’t have any answers for him, nor did she know how to comfort a man whose past made him so utterly damaged that he beared physical and mental scars. The kind of scars that would heal with time if he let them. So long as he could let go.

That wasn’t possible when those memories followed him into his dreams.

*****

**Jacob**

He laughed in her face when she asked to sleep in the same bed as him. It was something to mask the insecurities he held tight to his chest. A way to make her take back the question she posed, telling her so subtly to walk away and let him continue to live out their lives in separate bedrooms where she wouldn’t be able to see what she was witnessing now.

She woke her up to him thrashing. A scream pulling free from his lips that sounded like a wounded animal set on fire. It was heart wrenching and terrifying all at once.

In a moment she was thrown underneath him, he wasn’t awake, wasn’t seeing straight either. He had a hand on her windpipe, closing off her airway with a force meant to kill. He was cursing under his breath, half asleep, not fully aware

When he came to, as he realized her struggled cut off screams were coming from the woman he loved, he stopped all at once. Like someone shutting off a machine. His eyes widened suddenly, and he was gone. Rolling off and falling to the floor with a thud that must’ve hurt his knees.

She wanted to call out to him, to at least touch him. But he was standing on unsteady feet before she could even think of what to say. He stumbled away, a hand raking through his hair with a grimace painting his face.

“You just couldn’t listen, could you?”

"Jac--”

“You had to be this close to me, you just really wanted to sleep in the same bed as me.”

“You should have told me.”

He scoffed, “Yeah? Tell you of my fucking nightmares like this is some therapy session? Is that want you want to hear? The things that I see, honey…” he let out a low whistle, a cynical smile lifting his lips up. “It’d fuck you up too.”

“I can help.”

“You can leave.”

Her heart dropped. It was like she couldn’t process his words or the situation he was forcing her into.

“You--ah, Jacob.” She was moving slowly, climbing off the bed to approach him with raised palms. “You don’t mean that.”

His back was facing her, hands laying on his desk with his head bent. “I do. Leave Rook.”

She took a step forward, eyes darting towards the door. He couldn’t kick her out of his life like that. As if they didn’t have something, like he didn’t say he loved her three nights prior to this mess. She finally did reach out, a hand coming to rest on his bare shoulder.

“Fucking leave!” He swirled on her fast, looking all in the world like he was moments away from slapping the shit out of her. Instead he breathed in deep, chest expanding as his head dipped towards the floor again. “Just go Rook.”

*****

**Joseph**

Nightmare was too soft of a word. It didn’t do justice to whatever it was Joseph was seeing behind closed lids.

Night terror would fit the bill.

It would surely explain the heaving breaths he was taking, as well as how restless he seemed to be. Tossing around on the mattress well into three in the morning, whining through clenched teeth.

The sound broke her heart. And if he didn’t wake himself up with a sharp gasp a second later, she would have done it for him. He sounded so fucking broken, and when he woke, It didn’t get any better.

He wasn’t outright crying, that just wasn’t him, but it’s not like he was unaffected. She could tell that from a simple look in his eyes. As if he wasn’t all the way there, focused still on whatever he dreamt about and not her presence beside him.

She had a hand cupping his jaw when he didn’t respond to his name. That only proved to make him cringe away, dangerously close to falling off the bed with how he scuttled away from her.

“Joe?”

He didn’t hear her, his breathing picked up, eyes closed tight with knees drawn to his chest where he sat. He was sweating, shaking, heat clinging to his skin. The noises that came out of his tightly pressed lips made her reach forward again, fingers going soft when she trailed over his ribs.

“Easy now.” He let her pull him close to press a kiss to his jaw until he stopped shaking and he finally registered who was holding him. “You’re fine.”

He whispered something slurred from sleep, something sounding like ‘no.’

Rook wanted to ask what was wrong, she wanted to prod and push his thoughts until it all came spilling out between them. She didn’t need to. He spoke first.

“You think that after all those years, I’d forget what happened. I heard that--that sometimes trauma makes people forget. Not me, I couldn’t be that lucky, hm Rook? I keep seeing it, It’s like it’s real, like it’s still going on today. All that abuse.”

He shifted in her arms, moving so they could stare each other in the eyes. He leaned in close, close enough so she could see the imperfections on his skin.

“It’s as if I’m a little boy again and not a man of forty. Leading the masses and so far removed from that past life.”

She didn’t have to ask what he was talking about, there was no need. Not when he freely told her about his childhood, sharing the neglect mingled in with the neglect him and his brothers faced. She just didn’t know it ran this deep.

“It’ll be okay.” Weak. Weak words to make his pounding heart slow down.

“Will it? You don’t really think I’ll stop seeing those things. That suddenly I won’t remember how John screamed or how Jacob always trudged back into our room bloody. It really won’t be okay.”

*****

**Rook**

She had done terrible things, committed atrocious acts that should never be brought to life. She just didn’t want anyone to know how much it all affected her. That her new life in Hope County was some big mistake she wanted to run away from.

Now someone knew though. Three someone's in fact. People who were the sole cause for the flashing images playing in her mind. The ones that haunted her, that had her screaming out to men aiming guns who weren't really there.

When a sideways punch--not too coordinated from how she was still groggy--landed on Joseph’s jaw, she jolted fully awake. She heard him let out a rough grunt, and suddenly he was holding her arm down. Stopping her from thrashing, that only made panic rise in her chest. Had her kicking her legs, landing it somewhere soft and fleshy.

Then the lights were flicked on. Making the world burn an orange color before she could open her eyes. When she did, she saw Jacob looming above her, a fist curled in the bedsheets beside her head, another hovering next to her cheek, almost touching.

Just like that she was flailing again. Breaking free of Joseph’s grasp and scrambling to sit up, to push Jacob away with hands on his chest until he fell back. Only because he saw the sheer terror on her face.

“Rook.”

She was shaking her head from side to side, so cold all of a sudden. Despite John’s presence to her right, hovering until he made the decision to wrap his arms around her. Trying to soothe her cries. “Shh.” He ran a hand over her hair like she was a child. Pressing a kiss to her forehead a second later, then another to her lips.

Joseph was at her feet, running his hands up and down her bare legs. Coaxing warmth into her body when goosebumps began to form. “It’s only us, Rook.”

She nodded sporadically. Like she was trying to convince herself. She pressed closer into John, breathing in his scent with her head pressed to his chest. Her arm snaked out to grab at Jacob. Holding tight to his bicep with her nails digging into his skin.

“Sorry. Go back to sleep, just--”

“You think we can do that?” Jacob asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “We’re not stupid, sweetheart. Heard you calling out for mercy. Who do you think is gonna hurt you?”

Rook buried her head deeper in John’s chest, focusing solely on how Joseph kept rubbing up and down, focusing on Jacob’s scarred arm. “I’m a fucking monster. Guess I should be scared God is gonna hurt me.” She laughed wetly, looking up to catch Joseph’s eyes. “He’s gonna smite me for my sins, for my wrath and all the damage I wrought.”

“You did what you had to. Everything you did was done because you thought it was right.” John’s words sounded hollow to her ears.

“Sure John. Sure.” She glanced between Joseph and Jacob. “You two don’t believe that.”

Jacob leaned forward, kissing her instead of answering properly. “We do, Rook. You gotta trust that. No one blames you.”

She struggled out of John’s grasp, rolling onto her side and ignoring Joseph’s hand on her hip.

They were all liars.

 


	67. John/Rook Ceasefire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deputy is asked to spend a night with John in order to cause a ceasefire

She wasn’t even aware the mail service was still up and running. You know, with the fact that Hope County was in fact a very real and hostile war zone. And yet Addie had grabbed her attention before she could head out, sporting a skeptical glance directed her way with a few choice words of not hiding any secrets from ‘aunty Addie’ before thrusting an envelope into her palms.

The white material of it was fancy. Expensive too. Something that cost more than her whole outfit. And somehow that made Rook want to toss the damn thing in the river. But fuck, whoever had access to the postal system and could somehow manage to get their letter to her was the kind of person Rook wanted to get to know. Connections were important.

She tore through the envelope, allowing room for a silken, coffee colored letter to fall into her lap. It was folded neatly, smelling sweetly of a scent that didn’t belong in her humid, dirty car, cradled in hands caked with dry blood.

It was typed, not handwritten, making a strange giddiness swell inside her. Since when did she become so important?

_ Dear Rook, _

_  It has come to my attention, as well as the attention of my brothers and sister, that winter is fast approaching. To be frank with you, none of us are prepared. It’s embarrassing, to be so ill prepared. Too preoccupied with other things as to not realize the seasons changing. Remember that this is why I’m putting up this offer. Because I wanted put something on the table, a ceasefire perhaps, something not given lightly. But I’m already concerned about our people and how slowed down our resource gathering will become in the next two months, I figured we could strike up a deal. _

_ One night with you is all I ask. A night in bed. _

_ The ball is in your court deputy, think hard about what your next move it. _

A ceasefire.

A fucking ceasefire. With so many strings attached. Now the idea of tossing this damn letter out the window sounded fantastic considering what laid inside. She should let it get buried in the snow that had begun to fall when her head was down, busy reading the sorry excuse of a peace treaty John had delivered right into her arms.

Turns out this wasn’t the kind of man she wanted to have connections with. Not in the slightest. At least not under normal circumstances. But fuck, he was right. Winter was coming, and coming fast. Faster than any of them had anticipated. So fucking fast that even Eden’s Gate wasn’t ready for the potential of them being caught off guard and unable to carry out whatever they had planned for the following weeks.

And if they couldn’t handle the impending weather, then there’s a good chance the resistance wouldn’t fare too well either.

She groaned at the thought at what he was even thinking of doing with her, on what he wanted in return. A snarl rose from her lips when she tossed her head back. Her hands, already feeling frozen from the chill outside, reached for her radio. She fumbled with the frequency.

“John.” She swallowed thickly around her next set of words. Breathing in deep to try and compose herself. “Got your letter.”

“Ah, deputy. Have you? Quicker than I thought it’d arrive.” He admitted softly. “But I’m pleased to hear back from you. I’m assuming you’ve had the chance to think over my offer, to discuss it amongst your friends.”

She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Maybe she should have consulted someone. She wasn’t about to let him know how rash her decision making had been. So she lied, like a fool. “I have John. I have. It’s tempting to say yes this time around.”

He hummed at her words, at the implication it gave. “Tempted to say yes, and simply saying it, my dear, are two different things. One outcome is more preferable.”

She snorted. Finger trailing on the frosty window to draw swirly patterns. “To you maybe. You’ll be getting a lot out of it, not facing as much risk as I would sleeping with a man whose been around the block, so I’ve heard.”

“I’m clean!” He snarled, making her laugh out loud this time. “I am, Rook. I need this.”

“Yeah? Need? Not want. How long as it been since you’ve fucked someone? Or since someone’s fucked you? Dunno how you like it.”

He sputtered for an answer, all choices seeming sinful. “If you accept my offer, I intend to keep you under my thumb, not the other way around.”

Her eyes slipped shut in contemplation. It was one month. One month where no one had to worry about being shot at. People could walk outside and smell the flowers for once, enjoy the view Montana offered. That was valuable down time that everyone needed. Her included. She knew she’d get shit for not jumping on this chance by at least one of her friends. Probably Sharky...or Addie.

“Fine.”

“Fine? As in yes? You’ll do it?”

“God, yes. Yes John. I’ll come over now, for one night. One night only, and we’ll have ourselves a ceasefire for two months, well until winter has blown over.”

She could practically hear John’s smile when he gave directions to his ranch. Chirping into his radio that he’d be waiting.

Smug bastard.

*****

The place was warm at least. Inviting too. Better than where she was holed up with a tattered blanket to keep her cozy. John--bless his heart--had a fucking heated blanket. It was keeping her rooted to his couch, so close to falling asleep from the warmth. She would have too, if John wasn’t a petty child who demanded attention right then and there.

He kicked at her ankle, digging his fingers into her shoulders and shaking. 

“Have you forgotten our agreement?”

Her lips pulled down in an instant, she sneered at him, reaching up to grab a fistful of his jacket to yank him down next to her.

“Stop being such a whiny little bitch.”

He sunk into her side, forcing their bodies together until he could press kisses into her neck. “If you’re so cold, dear, I’d be happy to lend you my shower.”

That had her moving, pulling him along by his hand because his house was ridiculously large with too many rooms for only one person.

The thing was—as amazing as his bathroom turned out to be, with perfect water pressure—he forgot to mention that he’d be joining her.

“I don’t remember this being a part of the deal.” Her words ended off with a choked out groan when his hands tangled into her hair, scrubbing shampoo around like he’s done it a million times before. He stepped closer when she leaned back, accepting her weight and not at all ashamed of how she could feel every inch of his body against hers.

Besides, if everything worked out like it was supposed to and their ceasefire was going to take place as intended, they’d know each other intimately by the time the night was over.

“Well...I tried not to be too specific. I wanted some wiggle room.”

“Fucking lawyers.”   
  
“Yeah? Would you like to? Wanna do it here?” His hands moved away from her hair, sliding down her hips, turning her abruptly to jam her against a wall. “Such a dirty girl.” He growled in her ear, grabbing his cock in his hand to slide between her cheeks. “What would the resistance think?” John gasped, feigning shock as her hands pressed flat to the wall to gain leverage, a pitiful attempt to shake him off.

“I’m not in college anymore, John. No way am I having shower sex.”

When she turned to him, her breasts brushing along his chest, he was pouting. Tilting his head to the side with a sigh. “Fine. Fine then,” His hand shot out to move the curtain, uncaring about the water spilling onto the floor. “Lead the way.”

John was on her by the time they entered his bedroom. His hands found her shoulders to shove her on his mattress. Then he was on top of her before she could react. Bracketing her in with his body.

His teeth were sharp, hands greedy in a way that made her squirm. She bit her tongue, kept herself silence. Not willing to give something up that easily when it would only inflate his ego. He didn’t need that. Didn’t deserve it either. If he wanted to hear her moan, he’d work for it.

John’s eyes fluttered up to hers briefly when he pulled back. She thought she saw a flicker of annoyance hidden there. “What? Not good enough Rook?” She stayed silent, shaking her head in disbelief. If he noticed that, he didn’t say anything.

His bites became softer, turned into something that would form bruises as he sucked her skin into his mouth. That made it more difficult to keep her mouth shut when she felt a slow rise of heat bloom in her stomach. She wiggled her hips, hands tightening in the bedsheets. 

Both of which he noticed.

“That better not be Pride I spy.”

“And if it is?” She smiled up at him, a cheshire cat grin. 

John grinded down into her, his cock sliding against her folds, which were shamelessly slick. He placed a hand over her eyes, scrambling with uncoordinated fingers to grab at something. A second later and he was kissing her. Shoving his tongue past her lips when she gasped from the surprise. His tongue danced along, a force to keep her focused on that and not the sudden press of metal on her lower stomach.

“I’ve got my ways, Rook. Now flip over, show me something sweet.” He goaded her gently. Like he wasn’t seconds away from cutting into her flesh.

She listened when his hands went away from her eyes to squeeze at her hip. Indicating how she should lay. Her ass was coaxed into the air, a hand sliding down one cheek, moving in between to spread her.

“Where can I fuck you?”

“You should know the answer to that.”

His pointer finger prodded at her hole. Which, unsurprisingly, didn’t accept his digit.

“John!” Her legs kicked out angrily. Landing on his hip bone, almost moving in for a second hit, stopped when he grabbed her foot. Pressing in his nails to her heel.

“Yes? Did I misinterpret that?”

Rook huffed a laugh despite the situation. Shoving her head further in the pillow as he shuffled in closer on his knees.

His hand remained on her ass, cupped carefully around her flesh while he explore her. Moving to slip  _ downdowndown _ until he could cover her cunt. His finger stroked back and forth. Running over her clit with ease, dipping lower to plunge inside.

She bit her lip at the feeling. His fingers weren’t thick, but they were larger than hers. More satisfying then those nights alone remembering her past lovers. They made her feel more full. They stretched her more when he added a second finger, hissing in tandem with her as if he was just as effected. 

“Never imagined you this tight.”

“M’not a slut.”

“Never said that, lust can be dangerous though. And toys can get the job done, no?”

Her back arched off the bed. Legs spreading wider around his waist, offering more with closed eyes. Still unwilling to see his smugness if she dared to glance over her shoulder. “Look at me, deputy. Please, look at me.” He blanketed her body with his own, making her collapse flat on the bed, forcing his fingers deeper.

He teased another around her entrance. She wasn’t sure she could take a third. She told him that, a whine in her voice. “Darling, my cock’s bigger than two fingers. I’m not the kind of man who would ever want to wish my partner pain during sex.”

She cringed at his words, at how utterly correct he was. Rook wiggled back into him, a murmur of “go ahead,” slipping free. 

“Good. Good girl, god, look how you take me.” Another finger, scissoring, stretching her wide. Making it burn where it felt right. Then he was slipping out, pulling away his heat and leaving her bereft. Her head did turn then, searching for where he went. Hands falling behind her to grapple him near with a gentle touch on his hip. 

He was knocked down off his knees, staggered off balance from his knees, losing grip of the condom he had in hand.

“Don’t need that.”

“I don’t need to explain to you why condoms are used, do I?”

Rook flipped on her back, cupping one hand on the back of his neck. Another grabbing at his hand to her bicep. “Birth control. You said you’re clean?”

He nodded fast, a jerking motion that made him look disoriented for a moment. He was moving quick, spreading her legs, making them go up until they were draped over his shoulders. His cock nudged at her entrance, pressed in with a roll of his hips.

He wasn’t the largest she’s ever taken. But he was big, making her wince. Another thing he noticed, he soothed away her pain--maybe as a sorry--to lay a kiss to her temple. Trailing down as he made his way to her lips, much softer than before, then to her neck. Kissing at the bruises that were already forming in the darkness.

“Be good deputy, temper yourself for once in your wild life.”

The sharp thrusts of his hips were quite the juxtaposition for the order he gave her. It was rough, a steady motion that was rocking the bed, shifting them closer together until there was no longer an inch of space left between them.

She clung to him, grabbed at his shoulder as she cried out. Whimpered when the angle only proved to push him all the more deeper. Her nails raked down his back, created blood red tracks in their wake that would give him something to remember her by.

“Fucking hell!” He jammed into her deeper, went faster. Maybe as punishment for the scratches. “Always so wrathful, my God.”

He laughed, letting his head hang forward, resting his cheek against her breasts a second later. He popped her nippled in his mouth, tugging harshly. Making her legs squirm from the muscles burning.

“Payback’s a bitch, sweetheart. So’s karma.” His words were slurred, intercepted with her flesh in his mouth. “Thought a good fuck would take the wrath out of both of us.”

“Is it working for you?”

He pulled back, moving her legs to wrap around his waist. Hands cupping the sides of her face. “Jury’s still out on that one. As for you, I’d say a few more trial runs--”

“Also not in the letter you sent.”

He smiled wide, it faltered slightly when he came a second later. Hips stuttering as his fingers stumbled between her folds. Rubbing fast and quick until she was crying out his name again an again. Eyes slammed shut when her cunt grabbed around his cock tightly.

“It wouldn’t be selfish. I’m only trying to save your soul, Rook. If fucking you is how it has to work, then so be it.”


	68. PolySeed/Rook Until Death Do Us Part (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook dying in the each member of the Seed family's arms

**Jacob**

“I worked so hard on you.”

He wasn’t sure she was listening, but she was alive at least, despite looking bloody and bruised, her chest was moving. Eyes open, though glazed over, cloudy as if she spent too long in the bliss. He knew that was just the blood loss.

“Y’know, Joseph sat us all down, told us what he saw. Remember him saying something about you being what we were waiting for, that you were only here to destroy us. You were gonna take down Eden’s Gate in a blaze of glory.”

Jacob wrung his hands between his knees, rubbing at the dirt scuffing his jeans from how he collapsed on the ground, haggard from the fight she put up. Not dead, thank God, way better off than her too.

“Guess he was wrong.” Jacob laughed, and if she was more lively she could have heard how meek it sounded. “Thank fuck for that, huh deputy?” He swallowed hard, almost wishing for a response he knew he wasn’t about to get.  

“M’fine.”

“No.” Jacob laid a hand on her back, rubbing at her spine as she tried to struggle to her feet. “No, you’re not.”

Rook proved him right when she got as far as her knees and immediately fell back down, landing on her face when her arms proved useless. “Can’t feel my legs.”

He soothed her with a soft noise in the back of his throat, exactly how you would with a dog. Jacob trained her like one, yet it felt wrong. She was strong, something so much more than he ever thought she could be. This is didn’t seem fitting.

Apparently she didn’t think so either. She was trying to move again, squirming on her stomach in the dirt with a low cry. Jacob stopped that, grabbed her around her waist to pull her between his legs before she could do anymore damage to herself.

“I wanna go home.” She whined out, tossing her head back against his chest.

“Yeah? Want me to take ya there? I was a pilot, remember when I told you that, think I can manage flying you home.” He pulled her closer to his chest, burying his head into her neck. “You can visit your parents, maybe show me who raised the strong soldier you turned out to be. You can introduce me to your relatives, got any sibling, dep?”

Her hand moved sporadically to cover where his own rested on her ribs--broken ribs. Her fingers twitched, conveying what she wanted, trying to hold his hand like they were friends. He granted her that, allowed that moment of vulnerability. Everyone had weak spots in their life, if you live long enough, and Jacob has, you see that even the strongest fall.

“Rook?”

She didn’t answer.

“Rookie.” Said with more force as he jostled her.

His hand pressed under her breast, searching for her heart, moving to her throat second as if it would be different there.

It wasn’t.

*****

**John**

He can’t say he hadn’t meant to take the shot. Because he did. He well and truly was lining up his sight onto the flying projectile the deputy made of herself from the stolen plane he recognized coming from his airstrip.

He had threatened her and her friend with death, so they both should have seen it coming.

And yet, nothing prepared him for this moment. To see Rook lying on the ground near the burning wreckage of her plane. He never thought he’d see her so weak. So helpless and defeated.

John believed in forgiveness. That’s why death seemed harsh, even when he told her it was exactly how he intended to end her wrath. He’d explain to Joseph later how things got out of hand. But that thought only popped into his head twenty minutes ago when they were still invested in their dogfight, when the thought of her dying was something that wasn’t tangible and he was wrathful.

For the first time in a while he felt regret bubble up inside his chest. Making it hard to speak when he knelt down next to her. Her eyes fluttered open to stare up at him. He saw shock there, and anger. God, he never thought that would fully leave her body. There was also resentment, he could understand that one. Figured that he deserved it too.

“Are you gonna finish this, or what?” She laughed at her words. Maybe at him. It was full of pain that John didn’t like.

“Finish you?” He repeated her words, saying them slowly, shaking his head from side to side like he couldn’t comprehend what she meant. “Why wouldn’t I save you? To go through all these months of hard work to just end it all...what would be the point of that?” The smile he gave was forced, but she was slipping away too fast to notice.

“You feel like trying to save me John? I’m dying.” She closed her eyes, and for a second he could fool himself into thinking she was just basking in the sun that dared to peek through the trees on such a somber moment.

Soon she would give him a smile full of teeth and demand that he help her out of this mess so she could be back to making his life a living hell.

“Did you hear me?” She asked softly, hand reaching out to grab at his arm. “I’m dying. And you should be rejoicing. Or calling your family, telling them the good news.”

He shook his head again, still at a loss for words. Trying desperately to speak past the lump in his throat. “My siblings won’t be pleased with this outcome.” He leaned in closer, risking smearing his jeans with mud as he shuffled towards her, placing a hand on the nape of her neck to draw her near to his face. “You’ll be mourned, you’ve made quite the impression deputy.” Her eyes were still closed, he wasn’t sure she could hear him. “And I--I--” He bit back a sob, tipping his head down so his tears wouldn’t land on her.

“I’ve had fun with you. Even if my comments may have made you think otherwise. You made me feel alive.” He spoke the truth too late, he knew that, he also knew that the regret he was feeling was something he’d have to live with for the rest of his life.

When he cried, long after he came to the realization that he was cradling a dead body, he wondered for the first time since he got to Hope County what his life would have been like if he refused his brother’s offer, turned him down and called him crazy. Yelled for security to take the scruffy looking stranger that was too pale, too thin to be in the office of an esteemed lawyer like himself. For the first time he wished he never gave that up, he shouldn’t have even let it get that far, when his receptionist called for him he should have feigned confusion, put up his palms in the form of an apology and backed off.

Seemed like Rook was leading him into a lot of firsts that made him sick.

*****

**Joseph**

He took every precaution available to him to make sure it never came to this. He called off so many people, got them killed when he ordered them to put down their weapons--to tell them not to shoot her.

The Rookie that threatened his homeland, he made sure she was safer than the rest, he did the best he could without making it seem like he wasn’t playing favorites. Not like accusations weren’t thrown his way, and by his own family nonetheless.

He supposed all those crude words on why he wouldn’t just end her life would stop now. Now that she was bleeding out on his bed. Dying from a blade he stuck into her gut, twisted it around her stomach until blood gurgled out of her mouth.

She screamed for him to stop through her own blood. And he did, realizing too late that he went deeper than he meant. He could lie and say it was her fault, that her squirming in his grasp made the knife sink into her stomach more than it should have.

It was his own doing, maybe he’d know that later when he was swimming in guilt.

He already felt the first stirrings of it when she looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. She looked young, like a scared child. That made him move from his place in the doorway, kneeling on the floor to hold her hands. He stroked the back of her knuckles, brought them to his lips to kiss the scarred skin. Damaged from countless fights.

“Did I do that to you?” She pulled a single hand away, running it around the rim of his eye, where the skin was bruised and turning an ugly purple.

Joseph laughed, smile pulled tight, because, yes, it hurt. He wasn’t about to say that, not when she was dying quicker than he could fix. “You did, got a couple good hits in.”

“And I still lost.” She wheezed the words out, coughed lowly, bold in her fading life to grab his hand, squeeze it tight and pull it to her chest. So he could feel her heartbeat, moving not as steady as it should be. He did that. She wanted to convey that message, whenever he felt guilty or upset, she wanted him to remember this moment. He didn’t get to know sympathy when he was the one who killed her.

Five seconds into her death, with her already going cold, he understand that.

*****

**Faith**

She was singing. After all the pain and torture, this snake of a woman held her tight and sung to her.

It was a joke.

And if Rook wasn’t dying she would tell her just that. Instead she coughed weakly, coughed up blood clots on the ground. Tried to track it with her eyes, afraid it’d land on Faith’s too clean, white dress.

The bliss made it hard to see anything past the sparkles floating around. Or the green haze rising up from the water off to their left.

Rook got a strange feeling that this should be Faith dying on the ground and not her. But maybe that was her pride showing, she wasn’t sure.

“Are you in pain, darling?”

Was she? Considering she couldn’t even feel her mouth, or her tongue, or how to work the two together to string together a sentence. She’d say no. She didn’t feel like she was dying. Not when her body was numb. But her memory was crystal clear.

She knew she was hurt. Stabbed and shot, thrown around like a boxer in a ring. It wouldn’t be a quick death, but it would be painless. Faith made sure of that when she dragged her body towards the water. Brought her close enough until her eyes grew milky.

“This wasn’t what The Father said would happen. It wasn’t supposed to--”

If Rook could see Faith’s face better she’d check if she was crying. It sounded like it. Then again everything was hazy.

“Perhaps I made a mistake. It must’ve been my fault. I’m sorry, this wasn’t what He intended. I’m so sorry.” Faith hugged her closer. Crushing her ribs and cutting off her air, it felt like. “Please forgive me.” Rook still couldn’t speak. Numb. Everything was numb. It felt as if she was dying quicker. That the bliss swirling around them was getting thicker, that Faith was suffocating her.

Her body twitched under Faith’s hold. Writhing in her lap as her eyes rolled back. Gone. Dead and gone, without pain. There’d be a price to pay for Faith, even if she was merciful.

 


	69. John/Rook Arachnophobia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While escaping from John's Bunker an arachnophobic deputy runs into a spider

She had been doing pretty well, avoiding John’s men through the tight hallways of his bunker as she made what she considered to be her Great Escape. She was quiet, slow moving and agile. To be honest she was proud of the progress she was making, close to getting out actually. The stairs should be right in front of her soon, maybe another corner to turn and she’d be caught up with John, perhaps make it to him before he had a chance to lock Hudson back up.

Whatever the case may be, her confession wasn’t happening. She was getting the fuck out of here.

That was her thought process as she rounded another corner, twirling on her heel with a squeak coming from her shoes. Then she stopped dead in her tracks, windmilling her arms to stop herself from falling flat on her face from the sudden movement. 

She came close to dying so many times since met the man who ran Holland Valley. And she counted this amongst the top five. Because less than three feet from her, sitting right on the ground, flanked on all sides by overstocked ammo crates, was the largest spider she’s ever seen. Something pulled right out of National Geographic. It was a hellspawn belonging in the Australian outback, not Hope County, Montana.

Rook screamed. She took a step back and screamed out of pure instinct as if she wasn’t being hunted down to be dragged back the way she came. In that moment, she couldn’t say she cared. Not when she was in danger of being eaten alive by a mutant spider. 

It moved, it’s feet scuttling on the cement, and it echoed terribly loud. It was so damn large that it’s spindly legs reverberated through the halls for what she assumed was miles. That had her backing up until she was pressed into a corner, which really wasn’t smart since it was coming towards her. Slowly, yes, but making it’s way in her direction nonetheless. 

Probably to nibble at her face.

“John!”

Later, she might regret calling out for his help. But in her mind, she figured she wouldn’t even live to regret such a thing if she stayed silent. So she called for help, she yelled his name more times then she could count, hunching her shoulders in on herself with one leg pulled up from the ground, praying she wouldn’t lose balance to make her level with a demon spider.

When John did appear, running, sprinting because she screamed bloody murder and he heard the fear in her voice--fear he’s never heard before--he was flushed, mouth open to ask questions. Probably expecting someone else to be in the corridor besides her and a spider.

From how he stood stock still, she assumed he just didn’t understand how dire this situation was. 

“Deputy.” He regarded her cooly, nodding to her with hands on his hips. “Pleasure seeing you haven’t left just yet.” He hesitated when he smiled, head tipped to the side, still confused. 

“Help. For once in your life, I’m begging you, help me.”

“I--I don’t--What am I meant to do?”

She literally snarled at him. Ducking her head, tucking it closer to the wall when tears began to spill out. This was fear in its rawest form, he saw that now. He noticed it when she whimpered, body trembling when her eyes flicked to the ground. He followed her gaze, close to laughing at what she was so scared of. Then he heard a sob catch in her throat and all he felt was a wave of pity.

“Please.”

He rolled up the sleeves, acting like this was the heavy duty job she thought it was “Since you asked nicely.” Really he would have done it either way, whether she was polite or cursed him to hell and back. He understood fear, and he knew that it was exactly that feeling that had her calling for him and not her letting go of the pride he swore she had. And if he wanted to be cruel, he could leave her there, maybe pull a confession out that way. But a certain man once said something special about love. This was as close as John could get. 

It was squashed under John’s foot, dead in an instant. Not smart enough to run away from his weight. John made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat, well aware of the blood on the sole of his expensive shoe that smeared across the floor.

At the same time Rook sunk to the floor with a cry slipping free from her lips. Her legs crumpled, making her slam down as she curled into the fetal position. From the way her shoulders shook, he knew she was crying, despite how quiet she was trying to be.

“Rook?” 

The lack of response legitimately worried him. That and the way she sounded close to hyperventilating. 

 

“Rook, look at me.”

If anything, she curled further in on herself. Pressing closer to the wall when he crouched down by her side.

John reached out to brush along her shoulder. His hand rubbed soothingly up and down her spine. Over the ridges of her ribs and smoothing over the nape of her neck. His fingers stayed there, bold enough to pull her back to finally force their eyes together.

“You’re safe, right here, nothing’s wrong.” 

She hiccuped in response, suddenly coming back to herself, realizing how close John was. Realizing the danger she was presented with, with him boxing her in. 

“I don’t like that look in your eyes, Rook.”

She blinked at him, shoving at his arm until he let it drop to the floor. “What look?”

“Like you’re not with me. Not....here.” He snapped once in front of her face, sighing when she jolted. “Come on.” Suddenly he was pulling her up, lifting her up off the ground with gentle hands under her arms. She swayed when she stood, face drawn and haggard. 

Rook collected herself quickly when she saw how closely John was watching her. “We don’t speak of this.” She shook her finger in his face, taking a step closer until their noses brushed. He flinched at the contact, just as vulnerable as she had been a second ago. 

His eyes were blown wide, staring at her as if seeing her for the first time. Realizing who she was because of a fucking spider. When she finally managed to push past him, John let her leave.

And he laughed. Years from now, when she saw their side of things, he hoped to remind her that they bonded over her hidden arachnophobia. He’d tell her that fate is what made such a creature appear in her path just so they could connect. When in reality his bunker had a serious infestation of an awful combination of spiders and mice that he was yet to tell Joseph about.

She didn’t need to know that part though.


	70. Jacob/Rook Strength In A Mate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacob captures Rook and expresses his ideals on needing a strong mate

Rook was getting sloppy. Maybe he caught her on a bad day. Or she was off her game. Growing weaker as their time apart increased. She was strong inside his cages, despite her outward appearance. With her dirty on the ground, covered in her own piss and blood; not all her own considering how often he pitted her against enemies by the dozen.

But oh boy, she was strong. She let him see that, that monster that laid inside her. John always pointed out how the sinner’s going through atonement who had Wrath deep in their hearts, written out on their skin, made the best soldiers. They were always angry about something. It drove them. Jacob had the privilege of seeing that first hand. 

He was proud, once upon a time. When she mowed down men, making her own little one man army. That was then, this was now. From where he was standing, he could see she was slipping. Losing that spark that drew him to her for very different reasons than Joseph had. 

He’d like to think the reason he was reaching for a bliss arrow with confidence was because he wanted her to only be stronger. With her purpose dealt with, a proper sacrifice made, his training was made obsolete. Joseph told him to step back, that they couldn’t lose Rook. She was important if they were to build a New Eden. So Faith stayed away lest Rook was turned into a drugged mutant. John waited eagerly for orders bound to come when Rook crawled to them as broken and dejected as she was. Jacob was expected to be just as loyal. 

He would tell Joseph he was taking her in for safe keeping before she self destructed.

Because she was spiraling fast after the death of Eli. Maybe that’s why she didn’t hear him trailing after her.

The arrow ended up sliding through the air to find a snug home in the meat of her calf. A little low, but it would work just fine. Everyone would be happy at the end of the day. Joseph would--eventually--have Rook join his side, and Jacob could have his play thing fulfill other purposes where she didn’t have a gun in her hand.

*****

“Wakey wakey.” 

Jacob watched her with rapt attention. Saw the way consciousness slowly returned as the bliss exited her body and her eyes became clear. He saw the exact moment she realized she was all tied up, naked, with him seated on her lap like a large house cat. 

He snorted when she struggled.

“Shoulda killed you when I had the chance. Tammy said I’d regret it.” She shook her head, tossed it to the side so she didn’t have to look him in the eyes.

“Regret this? Naw, that won’t happen.” Jacob trailed his hands down her waist, gripped tight to the natural curve of her body like he was afraid she’d disappear beneath him. “We’re not training today. Or anytime soon, actually. We’re done with that, sweetheart. So wipe that look off your face.”

Her eyes were wide, expecting. Legs squirming on the sheets from how he didn’t tie that part of her to the bed.

“Then what do you want? Another talk with Joseph?”

“God no.” Jacob laughed something that sounded genuine, folding over for a second. Hair hanging in his eyes that brushed over a peaked nipple. “He doesn’t know you’re here. Not yet. I’ve got big plans for you before he has a say in this.” He laid a light kiss to her flesh, growing cold from the lack of clothes. “Been thinkin’ of your future.”

“How thoughtful.”

Despite the malice in her voice and raging in her eyes, he felt the way she was trembling. As if the conditioning ran so deep that just his presence had an effect on her. If becoming a soldier was still her purpose he’d be flattered.

Instead his mind was somewhere else.

“I try, deputy.” He shifted, moving slow when his weight was too much and he saw her wince. “I really do care about you. The thing is, I’d be a fool to let you slip through my fingers. I can’t take that chance, not after seeing how strong you are, I need someone like that with me. For as long as I’ve got the pleasure of living out my years.”

“I’m not gonna kill anyone else for you. I’m done!”

“Figured you’d say that. But you don’t got much of a choice here. I’m only doing this for you. You’ll be safe with me, I’ll keep you safe. Right here.”

Rook’s eyes dipped closed. Halfway there to accepting. Her muscles never fully relaxed though. “What makes you think I won’t run? Or fight for that matter?”

 

Jacob leaned down again, a kiss at her neck, peppered across her jaw then teeth nipping at her earlobe. Tugging until she bucked up into him. Right where he was bulging in his jeans.

“You will. But with a kiddie and a husband tying you down...I bet I can tame you, Kitten.”

Her eyes popped open just like that, snapping up to find his own hardened gaze searing into her. Her mouth opened and closed. Once, twice. Looking for words that wasn’t about to come anytime soon. Her eyebrows furrowed, confusion settling in the pit of her stomach that canceled out all fear for the time being.

“Joseph’s orders?” She guessed, a sneer in her voice even as Jacob began to undress. “He wants a new Seed heir for the collapse?” 

“Yeah, I guess I can spin it that way when I break the news.”

“Wait--” His hand clapped over her mouth, keeping her silent as he tugged off his under shirt and squirmed out of his jeans. His cocked jumped out enthusiastically when he yanked off his boxers, tossing them somewhere she couldn’t track.

“I think you’ll make a perfect mother, and wife for the matter. It all works out. You see, without a purpose to drive you, you’ve gone soft. Right up here.” He tapped at her temple mockingly. “Not even sure you wanna fight this, you know this life would be better than the one you’re trying to build for yourself.”

Rook didn’t have that much pride, not enough to deny him. Maybe before she might, before Jacob fucked over her mind, turned it against her like a nuclear bomb. Not that she made it easy. She nailed him good in the jaw when he moved between her legs, it was discoordinated from the bliss, but it was enough to make him recoil, stunned for half a second. 

She kicked him hard in the gut a second later, trying to knock him off the bed and failing miserably. 

“Can’t fathom why you’re fighting. Pride, maybe. Or...or something else. I dunno.” He shook his head regretfully. Kissing her inner thigh, trailing up until he could bury his head into her folds. Licking noisily almost immediately, like a man starved. He took and took and took. Running teeth down the side of her clit, making unwanted pleasure buzz through her body. He was making her body sing, already working her over better than any past lovers.

She came with a loud whine, a groan pulled free as he continued with the stroke of his tongue. Making her clit pulse something awful. Until her legs were shaking around his head and she was begging for mercy.

He laughed at her, straightening his back and wiping at his beard. Shoving away her juices that clung to his beard.

“C’mon. Let’s finish this, huh? Then I’ll get the both of us clean, treat us to a nice meal, and you’ll ride out the rest of your life in my arms with a child on your hip.” 

He had a smile on his face. Something cloudy in his eyes as he spoke. Like he could already imagine such a fallacy coming true before him. “Life’ll be good for once.” Then he was bottoming out inside her. Stretching her wide around his cock with no prep. Going balls deep like it was his job. Shoving inside and bucking his hips. Putting his hands under her ass to pull her in closer, to encourage her to move with him.

Not that she did. He didn’t get that from her, he didn’t deserve it.

“You’ll do such a great job.” His thrusts got faster, rougher. Until her cervix began to ache and she felt her stomach stir with interest again.

He must’ve felt her tighten up around him, urging him to finish inside her. Because suddenly his hand had fallen to her clit. To stroke in a sloppy pattern. It did the trick. Made her cum a second time with too sensitive nerves egging him on.

It was enough for him. A second later he was finishing without pulling out. Jamming in until their hips clinked together. He stayed like that, eyes closed and chest heaving like he just ran a marathon. 

“God, you’re good, huh? We’ll make a good family.”

“Babies don’t just happen. Ever think about this not working the first time around? Or about my birth control?” She gave a smile, the first one he’s seen since she gunned down Eli. It was cynical, one that screamed victory.”

 

Jacob froze, going still with eyes tracking her face. Then dropping down to where an IUD stood out on her bicep. He traced it with a careful finger. “We’ll just do it again and again. As for that….well...I know a man who peels skin on the regular off so many unwilling people. Hold tight honey, I’ll call him right now for ya since you’re so eager.”


	71. PolySeed/Rook Mistaken Abuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Each Seed brother impulsively hitting Rook during an argument

**John**

He had Wrath embedded into his soul. It was marked over his body again and again until his very being was filled to the brim. It was always there, ready to spill over and destroy those around him. 

Wrath was a dangerous thing. He knew this, he had seen it first hand. Back when his own father couldn’t control his rage with or without the alcohol he bought instead of food or clothes. When Jacob took on that very same rage if only as a defense mechanism.

He had been exposed to it from the very beginning. The odds were against him from the start. Even when he grew older, got away from such an awful man, rage was there. In the Duncans when they beat him for his supposed sins they tried to seek out, in those drugged out frat boys who he spent too much time around.

Then it began to boil inside him. He became infected with Wrath, and one day he woke up and that word was all he knew. It was a defense for him at some times, other times it just seemed easier to be angry.

After all those years and he’d assume that he would learn to temper Wrath. Control it and harness it, as if he was above such a thing. But no, no one could do that, he knew that now, because he was still in situations like these, moments were he was ready attack and maul.

It wasn’t his first fight, definitely not with his own girlfriend standing in front of him. Watching him expectantly with hands on his hips and a gleam in her eyes that showed she knew how unhinged he was. Or maybe it was his mind playing tricks on him, making a lover seem like an enemy in the heat of the moment.

Whatever the case, her calmness only made him angrier. And God help her, if she knew him a little better, like his brothers did, then maybe she would have backed off. Threw a pillow and blanket at his face with a sharp command that he was going to have to sleep on the couch that night, locking their door tight until morning came and they could kiss each other as an apology.

Instead she stood there, with her head cocked, tapping her foot like his loud words wasn’t worth her time.

Then he was pouncing, moving forward in a way that felt comfortable. It was like wearing a different skin, falling back on something familiar with the fluid motion of taking two steps forward. His hands were clenched at his sides, just a moment ago when their fight was only just words thrown, they were shoved deep in his pocket, but now they were a threatening force.

When he did it, they were both taken aback. The crack of skin against skin in his own house, coming from his own hand connecting with her cheek. Wrath. Spelled out clear as day.

Wrath. It was what made him cold inside. It had Rook stumbling away from him as if he had the plague. There was fear over her face, making her eyes cloudy. 

He could tell she wanted to cry.

And he wanted to slap himself. He had the burning urge to reach out and grab her, to at least offer some scrap of comfort before he fully lost her to his own madness. She was stepping away from him, hands pulled up to her chest. She was scared of him.

He hated the look she was giving him. It mirrored the same look he gave his father when he was bundled up in Joseph’s arms on the floor, Jacob standing in front of them as the weakest form of protection while John stifled his cries. Looking so scared while being afraid for more.

He felt bile rise in his throat when he turned away from Rook, whispering an apology that he doubted she could hear. He atoned with the knowledge that she was gone, the door slammed shut hours ago when she finally had enough of his bullshit. It might have been the first time he hit her, but she made sure it was the last.

He would too, with each cut on his body as punishment, he would make damn sure nothing like that ever happened again.

*********

**Joseph**

Joseph was gentle and kind and sweet. So loving. Affectionate to an almost painful degree. He held her tight at night, wrapping around her like a koala bear. He washed her hair when they crammed into his shower, he never raised his voice when she was the unreasonable one stirring up trouble.

It was different that night.

“I’ve had enough!” It didn’t come out as an angry snarl. It was a full on scream. Normally that would dissuade, make her pause for the simple fact that Joseph does not yell. He does not get snippy or catty. He loves her.

It was different. Everything was topsy turvy in how calm she was. Moving towards him with raised hands. “Joseph, I didn’t think--”

“No! You didn’t, did you? You never fucking think.” His gestured with a single hand, flipping it at her with an air of annoyance. He grabbed her shoulder next. Pulled her in close until their chests bumped. “I’m getting sick of you.” Then his fingers were around the back of her neck, squeezing tight until her shoulders hunched inward.

He yanked her along by her neck, pulled her towards the door, probably seconds away from kicking her out. Her hands came up to grab at his wrist, trying and failing to yank him away.

It was like he wasn’t Joseph anymore, because that only made him angrier. It fueled the rage from such a stupid fight--a fight she couldn’t recall the slightest reason as to what started it. Her touch, that simple tug had him shove her back, his hand rose.

And he slapped her. Backhanded her hard enough to have her face turning to the side.

In an instant her eyes were blown wide, already filling with tears as she gave him a sideways glance. Her gaze wavered, there was fear there. She was scared. Of him. The one who vowed to protect him for as long as they lived.

His hand rose again, having her taking two steps back. It had his fingers clench painfully tight until he stepped closer. Closing the distance so he could properly cup her cheek. Draw her in near so she fit in the curve of his body.

“I’m sorry.”

Her silence was staggering. Forcing him to focus on her uneven breathing and the thrumming of his heart heavy in his ears.

“Rook? Please.” He drew back, tilting her head up so he could see her eyes, lids blotted pink from the steady stream of tears falling. “You’d know I’d never hurt you. That’s not me. I am nothing like--” An angry sigh cut off his words. Along with emotions rising in his throat which made his eyes go blurry with tears. His fists clenching at the nape of her neck, tangling in her hair. It was enough to make her start trembling again. “I am nothing like my father. I don’t use my fists to rule. You know this, darling.”

“I thought I did.”

She reached up, a hand mirroring where he had slapped her. Her fingers ran over the too long stubble he wore. “You just had to prove me wrong, huh Joseph.” She was pulling away from his grasp before he could yank her back in. Stepping out the door and leaving his hands empty to hang at his sides.

Gone quicker than he realized she was capable of.

*********

**Jacob**

Every day of his miserable life he was beaten. Torn down piece by piece until all that was left was the shell of a broken man with too many issues to keep track of. He was destroyed by his father, his peers at school, enemy soldiers, and by the government especially. He wouldn’t wish that upon anyone he cared for. He wept for what his brothers had to endure. Cried whenever John did, sobbed after hearing what Joseph dared to do to his daughter--Jacob’s niece--because no one should be harmed by someone meant to love them.

He had that mentality for years. It was a code to live by.

With a past like that, even with his thought process of never laying his hands on someone who needs protection, the world wouldn’t be surprised if he was the kind of neighbor who hides inside with his fourth bottle of beer. Who threatens his kids and beats on his wife.

So if word of this ever got out to the small place Hope County was--they’d crucify him.

“I’m sorry.” A reflex to say whenever their arguments turned explosive. But this was more than throwing books and cutlery aimed for the walls, this was a hand thrown across her face. More like a punch if he was to look too closely at it. A closed fist to her jaw. Making her stumble back from the force of it.

His hand was still clenched. Now behind his back, pressed painfully against the wall where he trapped it. Scared he’d do it again.

“Didn’t--I didn’t--I...I’m sorry Rook.”

“Are you?”

The question seemed stupid to him. It had him stumbling for a response for way too long. His words weren't coming out right, refusing to form when he watched her put distance between them.

His head dropped, unwilling to meet her gaze. He didn’t need to see the hurt in her eyes. He was afraid he’d see something he recognized. Something he never thought he’d have to bear witness to again, he thought he left all that in the past.

He didn’t want to see any resemblance from years past when John was scared he’d get beat for the smallest of transgressions. So damn fearful a man taller and bigger than him would strike with a loss of temper.

He definitely recognized the slam of his office door. Ringing out like an awful gunshot. Having the same effect, making him weak and sick until he fell to ground on his ass. Sliding down the wall and bashing his head backwards. Mimicking that same pain he forced her to endure.

 


	72. John/Rook Watch Us Fit So Perfectly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John Seed fucking Rook while she's blissed out in front of his mirror, forcing her to see how good they look together

“Would this gift not be better suited for The Father?”

Faith twirled around the base level of his ranch. Running her dainty hands along his shelves, her index finger trailing over pictures of his brothers. She spun on bare feet to face him, a soft innocent smile stretching her lips. “At our last meeting, correct me if I’m wrong, you sounded like you wanted her. You sounded mad. It was only you who pointed out how unfair it was.”

“Yeah.” John shrugged, defensive suddenly. Eyes moving to where Rook lied keeled over on her side, face pressed into his leather couch, hair obscuring the milky film her eyes would show from the amount of bliss Faith gave her. “She hasn't confessed yet. It doesn’t seem proper for her to get a ticket right to The Father. No one else would have that right.

Her arms crossed over her chest suddenly, innocent smile replaced with a smug one. “I’m not arguing with you. I trust your judgement.” Faith walked around John, a hand dancing along his shoulder blades as she made her way towards Rook. She crouched down, pushing back her hair to blow another puff of bliss in her face.

That had John biting his cheek out of annoyance. He didn’t need her turning into an angel.

“Call me when you’re done with her. Take your time, Joseph isn’t aware of this.”

Left alone with the object of his affections, how did he expect it to go? How did his sister expect events to unfold? It was bound to be sinful. Not much of an excuse, but one he could live with for now.

She was limp against his body, curling into him as much as she could as he walked. Pulling her with him up the stairs, into his bathroom until she was slumped on the sink. Stomach cutting into the porcelain, head lolling forward.

He knew she couldn’t see straight, that even though her eyes were wide open, tracking his blurry form in the mirror, she didn’t know it was him. She couldn’t have known, going by how she didn’t recoil when he stepped in closer. 

She continued watching him with a wide eyed stare as he draped his body over her own. Pressed his weight on her so he could feel the heat she gave off, despite being waterlogged, probably coming from her drunken like stupor she endured with Faith.

“You’re soaked, Rook. We should--you need to let me help you undress.” He made her stand straight, her front still turned towards his mirror, towards the sink in case she fell. He watched his fingers in the reflection, saw how she watched them too with a dropped head. Bobbing up and down like she was about to nod off.

“I’ll get you warm.”

If she heard him, or knew any of the implications floating around from the moment Faith delivered in his arms, she didn’t show it. She just blinked at him with doe eyes. Still unseeing, more aware though. Realizing that she was in a cozy bathroom, and freezing. Because suddenly she was encouraging his hands along. Tearing at her clothing like she couldn’t wait to be rid of them, as if the wet fabric clinging to her skin was too much to bear.

Her squirming helped him along, shoulders shrugging in quick, jerking movements until she was left in her bra. He made short work of that, deftly popping the clasp until it could fall to the floor. Allowing her breasts to spill free with a soft bounce.

Her nipples were already hard, pointing outward from the chill. Staying that way from how he ran his fingers past them both a second later. He pushed into the curve of her back, shoving his interested cock against her ass. 

He could almost fool himself that she wanted this with the look she shot him from the mirror. Full of something he couldn’t identify through her blissed eyes. 

It was enough to make him start working on her jeans just as quickly. Another ploy to get warm, ample excuse to rub his hands up and down her thighs. He kicked her legs apart to move across her inner thighs. Stroking cold flesh until she wasn’t shivering and he thought she was leaning into his touch.

“Look at us, sweetheart.” The bliss couldn’t have been that strong, because she heard his request, doing as he asked. Head tipping up slightly to view the both of them in the mirror. A frown was tugging her lips down when she saw him half obscured by the way he bent down to touch her. “Don’t we make a perfect match?” 

He kissed her left ass cheek. Held onto her hips as he stood, keeping her in place as he worked at his belt. “You don’t believe me.” He whispered into the shell of her ear, nipping at her neck to accentuate his point. Focusing solely on how she still looked like she was unsure. 

“I can show you.”

He didn’t have time to go slow. Not when Rook was being tracked by Eden’s Gates’ best. Men supposed to report back to the Heralds’ region she was in, she had a penchant for a chaos. It was John’s idea at the time. Now it was biting him in the ass, because he couldn’t enjoy what would probably be his only time with the infamous deputy, and Joseph would soon be asking where she was. 

She always made herself known. Every few hours something was going wrong and she was at the helm of it all. It’d be quiet and people would get antsy. His brothers and sister would be scrambling to find her, worried she was planning something big they wouldn’t be able to stop, meanwhile John would be fucking her raw against the sink. 

John breathed out an uneasy sigh, raking a hand through her hair to push it to the side, revealing more of her face to him. 

“Darling, just let me,” his cock was out, jeans only pulled halfway down--getting stuck at his thighs--biting painfully into his skin. “You only need to watch. To bear witness to what we are.”

There was no need to be gentle. The bliss would make all pain mute, including that of how she stretched around him. Wrapping tightly and making his view become hazy. It had been too long. 

“There, now doesn’t that feel good?” 

“M’not--you--”

“Shush, look there. See?” He held her in a choke hold, wrapped a forearm across her neck until all she could stare at was their reflection. Just the steady image of them rocking against the porcelain. The sink hid the sin going on beneath their hips. The mirror wasn’t long enough to show his cock sliding steadily in and out of her. It hid how his free hand gripped her hips for leverage. Forming bruises she would find tomorrow with no memory of how they got there.

He liked that thought. That after this was said and done and she only had foggy remnants of what might have happened, there was a chance she’d call him. Wrath in her voice, pointing a finger at him and his need for causing others pain, not realizing it ran so much deeper than that.

His next couple of thrusts were more forceful. It made him sink in deeper, it caused her spine to arch. Whether in pleasure or pain, he wasn’t sure. He might’ve felt sorry if his fast actions didn’t elicit a groan from her. And yet…

Then she was greedily moving back into him. Like a switch flipped. Her eyes were wide, searching his face, watching how he became unraveled seated inside her. 

John laughed, tucking his nose against the crown of her hair, “You see it now, don’t you? You like this darling. Let me hear that again.” He kicked at her ankles with swift movements--as if they’ve done this so many times before--forcing her legs apart so he could reach around between her folds. His index finger set to work, rubbing across her clit with ease. Gently stoking a fire that made her legs tremble. 

The arm around her neck pulled away to wrap around her waist as she leaned all her weight into him, dropping back, trusting only him holding her up. “God we work so well together. And I’m gonna make you sing for me.” The next snap of his hips had him hissing as she tightened around him.

She was cumming a second later, a keen lifting up from her throat as she squirmed, looking to get away from the oversensitivity. She bucked back into him, a yelp sounding out as her orgasm washed through her, spurred on by the rough timbre of his voice and the finger circling between her legs. 

He stepped away before he could finish inside her, pulling out to shoot over the plump swell of her ass. Letting her fall to her knees. Another bruise to add to the pile. He tucked himself back inside, wincing at the sensitive scrape of his cockhead against his jeans. His hand tangled in her hair, patting her like a dog. He moved down to her jaw, tipping her chin up forcefully despite her low whine so their eyes could meet. “Wish I could keep you for a few more weeks, darling. We deserve each other, hard to deny that now. Alas,” He sighed dramatically, pulling away to grab at his cell phone forgotten about on his dresser in his room. 

“Faith.” John plopped back on his bed, eyes tracking Rook’s naked form in the bathroom, struggle--and fail--to get to her feet. “Pick up for you. Come take your gift back.”

“Wha--? Was it not of your liking...”

“Hm?” His brows furrowed, chin jutting out definitely at the accusation, “She did great. Why?”

“Nothing.” She giggled that sweet fairy like laugh, as if she was still that frivolous teenager brought into their fold and not a woman in her early twenties. “Oh, It was quick, that’s all brother.”

“Faith, I swear to The Father himself.” John seethed, eyes clenching, popping back open when he heard Rook fall, bringing down a towel rack with her. “Just come get her before we both get in trouble.”

His sister chirped back something he didn’t listen to. She laughed once more before the line went dead. When he glanced back at Rook, he saw her uncoordinated limbs dragging her along the floor. Towards him. That made him smile, wiping his mind clear from what Faith just said about his supposed inadequacy. He rose with a grunt to reach her. Immediately smoothing a hand over her head. 

“Until we meet again Rook. I look forward to next time.”


	73. PolySeed/Rook Scarring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time Rook gets a close personal look at the Seeds' scars?

**Jacob**

When he caught her once, she was treated just like the rest. Dubbed a prisoner who had to throw away all their morals if they wanted to survive. Name logged somewhere for Jacob to track, personal effect removed. Reducing everyone down to their primal state,thrown in a cage in a drab courtyard with no food and little water. Clothes torn into pieces just as her skin was from the countless fights she was forced into. Before she only heard story of what Jacob did, hell, she only heard stories of what he looked like. She’s only ever seen him in the darkened space of a closed church.

He didn’t visit her much.

When she was thrown back outside with the remaining threats acting like a promise that he’d drag her back again, she saw him less.

The second time he sunk his claws into her, and The Father wanted a word. What about, she was unsure. She’d have to hear it from the man himself firsthand. 

She saw the concern in Joseph’s eyes when he appeared like a God in the nighttime. Second time capture, second time she saw Jacob. Though it wasn’t good enough, she never really got to see him the way she wished she could. So her eyes strayed from Joseph’s worried gaze in to watch Jacob.

He dragged her back in with a soft, encouraging noise in the back of her throat. It didn’t matter, she couldn’t see shit in the dark. Her focus went to Joseph, saw him rake his eyes over her hair, which was a tangled mess. There was a twitch of his lips when he saw the dirt covering her skin in thick layers. She was riddled with cuts and bruises that seemed endless, too many to keep track of.

She watched him count her ribs through her thin shirt.

It was probably Joseph’s orders to clean her up after he caught sight of the fearsome deputy knocked down a few pegs. Perhaps Jacob was told to treat her better, more human, so she didn’t end up dead like so many in his older brother’s care. Jacob wouldn’t confirm or deny, but she had a feeling that’s why she woke up the next morning inside a smaller cage in his office.

That provided her with her first good look at the soldier. A man who she still considered a devil in so many ways by how he always lurked in the shadows when he was near. Now she could see. She could take in his broad stature early in the morning when he exited the shower, a thin, sorry excuse for a towel draped around his waist.

The light was more beautiful than ever, if only because of the view she was finally able to have. She got to see the scars she heard about, the ones from what she assumed were chemical burns--not from flames--she saw scars she assumed al the Seeds had. One’s from childhood, from a man bigger than the young boy Jacob was at the time. They littered his shoulder blades, the small of his back. Most covered up from his burns.

She wondered if he was ever grateful for that. Those memories turned physical reminders scratched out from a different tragedy. They’d never be close enough to ask, so she remained silent. Eyes peering out from the pillow she made out of her arms.

On the backs of his legs she saw long, thin marks. Most faded from the sun. Probably back when he was at war. Back in the desert where the sun was an enemy just as much as the men shooting at you, where it was red hot and oppressive.

He turned, towel yanked off to be used to scrub at his hair. It obscured his face, hid his eyes for a moment. Giving her ample time to take inventory of the mess his front was.

Uglier than his backside. Like a bear attacked him, followed by a cougar and a fall off a cliff. It made her wince, seeing all those scars up close. There were newer ones on his chest, one near his waistline, where his jeans would rest snugly. Those made sense, he was still at war, the one she was unofficially leading.

His chest hair, a furry teeming, sporadic thing, made it difficult to see what laid underneath. She was sure she saw ink. A mixture of black and white, maybe some blue or red. Different than John’s monochromatic sprawling nonsense. The tattoo he had--over his chest and reaching towards his shoulder--looked like it had a real sentimental purpose.

She moved on from that, searched for inconsistencies. Frowning when her sharp eyes still couldn’t see anything through his chest hair.

When her eyes jolted up to his face, she saw his face. Towel removed, hanging by his side in a limp hand. Not looking angry or smug. Just expressionless. Watching her watch him.

“Something wrong, Rook? Got anything on your mind?”

She sat up straighter, taking in his features when he got closer. Towel brushing along his chest then his hip, collecting water as it went. When he bent half over, palm steadying himself on the top of her cage, she dared to get closer. Her hands gripped the bars tight as she sat up on her knees.

Her eyes scrunched up in concentration. Mouth falling open in a small ‘O’. Chemical burns were there, flanking either side of his face. Claiming one side more than the other. They stretched down, past his thick beard which hid them perfectly. Moving to cradle his neck.

“I’m sorry.” She reached up, a hand brushing a wet, singled out strand of hair to the side. “I’m so sorry.”

 

*****

 

**Joseph**

She had caught sight of Joseph once or twice. Too scared to chance getting near enough for him to even speak to her. Some people said when his lips moved they lied. 

She’d never been up close after those warning pushed into her head, she’s never had the chance. It was curiosity that made her shrug them off, for her to come to terms with herself that if ever given the opportunity she’d gladly introduce herself. And really she could claim it was business, for the good of the Resistance, it’d be foolish not to speak to the figurehead of Eden’s Gate. Especially when he was so vulnerable at this moment. Stupid enough to not have any of his loyal men flanking him as he strolled through the woods.

There was an easy swing in his arms, a smile hanging off his lips as his eyes pointed skyward to take in the scenery, as if he was oblivious of the target he had on back.

She stayed a step behind him, hoping and praying it wasn’t a waste of time. It very well could be, he may run a cult, but he was just a man. And men take walks, they have downtime. 

Joseph ended up leading her to a lake. In fact, it didn’t even deserve that title. It was more like a watering hole. Said water being a light green from algae. With a lack of fish, or any wildlife to liven up the scene. He came to swim. That’s what she initially thought, taking in the surge of disappointment with an angry sigh leaving her lips.

She was ready to turn back the way she came. Leave in a wrathful huff with mutterings of curse words because she didn’t know where the fuck she was.

Then he chucked off his clothes. All his clothes. That made her hesitate.

He was bathing. Running blunt, dirty nails through his downed hair. Scrubbing at his arms, twisting to reach his back, wincing when his hand came into contact with a fresh cut across his shoulder blades.

Rook must have made some sort of noise. Perhaps she stepped on a fallen twig, or rustled the leaves next to her. Whatever the case, something caught Joseph’s attention. He didn’t exactly stop what he was doing, simply waded over to the edge of his lake to lean against the muddy shore. His head was propped up on his hands, eyebrows scrunched as he watched the tree line for movement again.

“You can come out.” He called, a smile tipping his lips up, trying to coax an answer that she wasn’t about to give. “I’m not angry with you for watching.” He dipped one hand back into the water, making ripples before he raised his hand, wiggling his fingers in the air. Entranced by how the droplets clung to him. “Perhaps you’d like to join me?”

Nothing. But he still knew she was there.

He shrugged, turning his back on her. That’s when she moved, not turning back the way she came--too dangerous. Too many sharp rocky slopes and men with guns ready to kill her. She could sprint to the other end of the forest. Find the tallest point of the mountain so she could figure out where she was.

He wasn't facing her. It’d take less than a minute to reach the other side where the hills continued to ascend. Rook breathed in deep, steeling herself before she ran.

She miscalculated. Totally miscalculated from where the edge of the lake was, or just how muddy the embankment seemed to be. It was 100% her fault that her foot slipped and she plunged into the icy water in the blink of an eye. Water that was cold enough to steal away her breath and make her muscles lock up.

Joseph was on her fast, grabbing her under her arms. Looking more surprised that she wasn’t fighting than why she was here.

“Rook?” He pulled her to his chest, guiding her weightless body along until he could stand on solid ground. Leaving her feet still kicking because she definitely was not taller than him. “You were the one following me for so long?”

“You knew?” She hated how whiny she sounded. That she still couldn’t see straight through the water clogging her eyes and that they in no way on the same level.

He only smiled at her, not bothering to even pretend he was considering her question. “I find this symbolic, you and I bathing under God’s light.”

“Let me go.”

And he did. His arms left her, leaving her to scramble to catch her foot on the bottom of the lake. When she did, she found that his back was turned to her again. Allowing her the choice to walk away. His hands swirled around the water, completely vulnerable.

She stood there, taking deep breaths, trying to decide what would be right and just under the law. Because she was still a goddamn cop. She wanted that to guide her actions for once since she’s gotten to Hope County.

With the sun blasting down on the both of them--God’s light--she could make out his skin more clearly. All those tiny imperfections. The freckles and birthmarks she never could have seen unless she was as close as she was now.

There were fading bruises on his side, a few new cuts scouring along his spine. As if he was in a fender bender that only left him dazed. That was all to be expected considering who he was. And not at all what stole her breath away and made her rooted to her spot. Her body growing cold from the water.

She traced scars with her eyes. Ones on his ribs that had a poor stitch job done, more on his hips and others she could barely see through the distortion from beneath the water. Moving over his legs.

“You went through a lot, huh?”

Just like that, seeing him bare with his many flaws, tracking his features when he did turn to her, she felt a sudden wave of guilt wash over her. Weighing her down and making her feel like she was going to drown.

“We all have gone through a lot, child. Life is difficult for everyone, you can see that if you spoke to each and every person in my flock. They all had rough lives.”

“Yeah...yeah but you had it so much worse. Look at you.” She gestured to him, saw him follow her eyes to his bare skin.

“Do they bother you that much?”

Rook floundered for an answer. Brows drawing tight together, searching for something that would placate him. Instead her shoulders sagged. To Joseph it looked like a flower wilting. When her head dropped to avoid his gaze, how she leaned against the embankment to keep herself from falling.

“Rook?”

“Not in the way you think. I--I just need to--” Her throat tensed, closing up on her suddenly. Stopping her flow of words. “I gave you hell when you already went through so much.”

“It’s not your fault.”

She wanted to yell at him, and maybe she would have if she thought he would yell back and soothe her wrath. But she just stood there, let him come closer until he was wrangling her in for a hug. “This can end, you can just...stop. No more pain will befall anyone else in this county. We can wait out the collapse and start anew. Just as God intended. It will be something amazing.”

“Is that what’s waiting for us after the end of the world? A place with no suffering,” she traced the scar on his ribs, winced at the unevenness of it, “no more scars. Just peace. Sounds too good to be true.”

He tipped her chin up, smiled down at her with so much serenity that she realized how he drew so many people towards him. That and the fear, fear always made people do crazy things. It was making her consider everything she was doing here.

“Maybe. But it’s what God wants. And as his Shepherd, I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens.”

 

*****

 

**John**

After all the abuse he’s endured, it was a miracle he made it out on the other side. Maybe he would have seen it that way too if he wasn’t so scarred. Every little detail of his life, the time spent with his brothers and with the Duncans, he wasn’t allowed to forget about it. 

He bore them with pride, once upon a time. Showed them off with expectations of sympathy. Joseph rid him of that sense, it was a sin after all. So yes, his sins were on display as they should be, but as long as he thought about his scars as marks of pride, they’d be covered.

They were ugly things. Indents from a belt buckle on his ribs and shoulder blades, thin spindly lines from a whip. Some raised, a pinkish color dulled by years. Others were faded, barely there, something you wouldn’t see unless you were looking for them.

And in this rare case--Rook was indeed looking for them. With permission granted, she sat cross legged on John’s bed, hands tied up behind her back, because originally this was supposed to be a confession. He caught her fair and square, soon to be transferred to his bunker for a more official experience.

Then she started talking. Asking questions. Speaking of his past with an innocent note in her voice. He deigned to answer her. That wasn’t enough. She wanted to see.

No one’s ever saw, even his brothers keep their eyes to themselves when he blew up once or twice. Anger raging forward at them for seeing the sins of his past. They went through it with him, but they didn’t need to see that. No one did.

But the deputy was sitting in his bed, promising a confession--the one that they’d all been waiting for--and all John had to do was temper her curiosity. She claimed that was all it was.

So he put a hold on the transport van and began unbuttoning his vest. His back was to her, he didn’t want to see the pity that would be there. Next came his shirt, torn off quick and violently as he tossed it across the room. That left him bare, it gave her a chance to stare at the scars he had gathered over the years.

“John…”

Pity. Sympathy. Something he’s been trying to avoid. The kind of emotions a person like Rook shouldn’t have for him.

“Oh. Can you untie me?”

“No.” Sharp. Quick. Venom spilling from his tongue as he glanced over his shoulder. Found that to be a mistake when he swore he saw her choked up. About to cry like they meant something to each other.

So she kept her mouth shut. Understood how uncomfortable he was from just a single glance. Instead she let her eyes wander. What was supposed to be a ploy, a cover story that should have given her the chance to escape, now became too real.

She figured he had scars. With rumors of the Seeds’ past, people wanting to pick apart their brains, she heard all about his past. If any of that was true, he’d have the marks to prove it. And he did, ranging all over him. She would guess he has more underneath his jeans Tangling down his thighs and legs to show for the sins those in his youth said he had.

“You done, deputy?”

Rook made some sort of noise, apparently good enough for John. Because he moved lightening fast to cut through the ropes. He was grabbing at her, yanking her to her feet, making her stumble as her foot caught on his larger shoes. Instinct made her turn, had her shove John down so they could fall back on the softness of his bed.

John was thrashing in an instant, claws reaching up to get her off, then moving to reach for what she expected should be a gun. She heard him curse low in his throat through the frenzy, his gun was probably left in his shirt, discarded and forgotten about on the floor.

“Get off! Help!”

Her hand moved over his mouth, muffling his pitiful cries for his men outside.

Her free hand touched where she wanted to just a second before. Over his scars, the ones she saw on his shoulders, and the ones he didn’t let her see spanning the length of his chest. That simple act made him stiffen up. Jaw clenching in anger, eyes wide, filled with something wild.

Like an animal caught in a trap. Ensnared with no way out.

Her knees pulled in tight around his rib cage, straddling in fiercer, keeping him locked in so she could touch his tattoos. The larger ones that made a sorry attempt to cover up old scars, misshapen ink drawn over something suspiciously looking like burns.   

“What has happened to you? God, you poor thing.”

John shifted. And she let him, she allowed him to move. Hands held up cautiously, so not to startle. All he did was curl on his side, knees drawing up as protection to unseen demons he still carried.

She shushed him, brushing fingers across the sweat on his forehead. Rook ignored how he reached for his radio, jammed between himself and the bed. “Call off the transport.”

“Sir?”

“Call. It. Off. I’ll tell Joseph.”

“The Father’s here, he’s waiting. He’s--he doesn’t seem very happy.”

John laughed, tossed the radio so hard against the wall adjacent to them that it shattered into a million little pieces.

His one eye, the one not pressed painfully tight to the bed, found her own. “That means trouble for me, doesn’t it? Joseph---people thinks he’s nice, he can get angry.”

“Does he hurt you?”

John scoffed, like the mere thought was humorous. “We’re brothers. He would never. He just...yells a lot. Tells me how disappointed he is, that I’m better than all this.” He unfurled a hand away from his chest to touch her cheek, to move down to her collar bone. “That’s not true though.”

With his arm that close, she could see for the first time the small tiny dots lining on his inner elbow. Where a doctor might draw blood. Or where a junkie might find his high through dirty needles.

“You’re not as broken as you think. This,” she ran a thumb over those healed injection marks, “can be fixed. You need help.” She leaned down to offer a kiss to his cheek. “I got you. You’re fine now. You’re safe, right here.”

She’d stay the night. One night. Maybe it would become a habit. Maybe they’d forget about all of this. Whatever the case, he’d be a little less broken than tonight.   

 


	74. PolySeed/Rook Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set further in the future, where their daughter is just old enough to start having crushes and how the Seeds would deal with such a thing

**Jacob**

He watched her grow. From the very day when she was born, and he had the honor to hold their little girl in his arms, he knew he would a constant in her life. He would teach her and guide her with a gentle hand that would remain forever patient.

He didn’t have anything to go off of, no father of his own to remember what a parent should do. He’d try though.

Ever since she was a little girl, despite having all odds against him, he kept his promise.

Then Rook needed a break, a week away from the hurricane Jacob had always been. He wasn’t offended, he knew his lifestyle was reckless, he also knew that Rook was more of a free spirit than he ever imagined. She needed time, he could give it to her.

He kissed her on the cheek with a murmur of goodbye, accompanied with the promise of a little reunion when he got back from his hike. Two days, he said, think you can wait that long? He grabbed her ass, landing his second kiss on her lips, sucking at her neck a moment later.

“Can I come?”

Her voice was sweet, a quiet whisper--kind just like her mother--entering without their notice. Jacob jumped back all at once, hands held behind his back with furrowed eyebrows. Cheeks tinted red for the first time in years.

Rook glanced at him, a shrug lifting her shoulders up, “Fine by me.”

Jacob gestured her forward with the crook of a finger, tossing a bag her way to pack. He couldn’t help but notice the queer look in Kat’s eyes when he pulled away from Rook. And suddenly he was embarrassed all over again.

*****

She brought it up over the campfire dinner he made for them. Food balanced on her knee--a large fish he caught when the first one she reeled in was too tiny to eat--she leaned forward, making him nervous when her hair dangled over her shoulder, close to catching on the fire.

“You’re a guy.”

Jacob blinked. Food halfway to his open mouth, his eyes flicked down to the knife it was speared on and back up to her. “Last time I checked.”

She huffed at his answer. As if she expected something better.

“You understand...guy things. How they work”

“Work the same as you I s’pose.”

She raised an eyebrow, watching him when he avoided her gaze as well as her probing words by ramming cod down his throat. “Yeah?” She challenged, sounding way more clever than a thirteen year old should, “Would you grab a guy’s ass?”

“Excuse me?”

It was probably the first time he let anger creep into his voice. So careful never to yell at her, afraid she would grow to resent him, or even fear him.

“Language.” He admonished a second later, hoping Rook would be proud of those set of parenting skills even if his own vocabulary was full of worse words.

“You did it to mom. Pretty sure you stuck your tongue down her throat too.”

Jacob wiped fish blood off on his jeans. Laughing under his breath, because really, how the fuck did he get stuck in this situation without Rook? And here he thought that parenting would be a two person job. That she’d handle all this crap, he would only hear whispers of how she was growing into something more than his little girl.

“Where’s this coming from Kitten?”

She flushed, shoulders hunching in on herself with her food forgotten about. “So..ah,” She giggled, nervous and exhilarated, “There’s this boy--”

“Here? In Hope County? The Whitetail Mountains?”

“Where else?” Said with the rush of bravado she was known for. The same trait she got from her mom. “You sound surprised.”

“How the fuck did you meet someone?”

“Language,” She teased back, trying to ease the tension Jacob wore around his shoulders. She didn’t like the lines around his face that formed when she began speaking, making him look too old.

“Who?”

“No. No, that’s not how this works. I talk, you listen.”

He snorted, eyes flicking up to her, “That right?”

Kat nodded sharply, focused completely on him. Still looking nervous. “How did you do it? Get mom, I mean.”

“You need to get that fact straight, she got me, Kitten. Not the other way around.” He tipped his head to the side, gesturing with his knife, now free from cod, “That changes sometimes though, sometimes…” He trailed off, realizing just who he was talking to. She was listening with rapt attention though. Wanting her father’s approval above all else. He could see that.

So he reached past the fire, caught the worry in her eyes when his arm bent a little too close to the flames. He squeezed at her knee with something he hoped was a reassuring smile. “You’re gonna be fine, Kitten. You know why?”

A small shake, looking like a little girl again.

“You’re just like your mother. Strong. Smart. Clever, and way beyond wise. I have faith in you.”

She groaned at his words, shoving his arm away with a half smile. “Stop. You’re starting to sound like Uncle Joe.”

“Discussion over then?”

She grabbed his hand at the last second before he could pull it back. She shook it firmly, sealing a deal. “Discussion over, old man. For now.”

*****

**John**

John’s hands froze, his fingers tightened minutely around his ballpoint, eyes not yet raised. Still trying to process what he just heard. The words that came out of the mouth of his precious darling child.

“I’d like to meet him.”

She laughed, swinging her feet wildly from where she sat perched on the edge of his desk. Crumpling documents beneath her weight. “You’d kill him.”

“No.” John stood briskly. Hands clenching at his side from this new found information. “No, I’d only like to show off my gun. The same way Aunt Faith shows off her flowers to everyone that crosses her path.”

He yanked out the drawer from an office locker, waving a revolver around with a disarming smile. “No harm done, sweetheart. What’s his name?”

“I don’t think you’d like him very much.”

John walked over with swinging arms, crouching down on one knee to hold onto her arm. He tilted his head, trying not to convey the feeling of anger welling up inside him. It was only a crush, that’s what Rook would tell him. A simple puppy dog sort of love for someone just starting to feel those things.

“Being my child, I’m hoping you have refined taste. Who is he?”

She bit her lip, a smile splitting her mouth wide as she hopped down from the desk, gripping onto John’s arm just as he had done to her. Now though, it was a rough hold, her nails were biting into his skin in a way that could be described as excitement.

“The Ryes have two kids.”

John’s heart dropped, he held onto hope, smiled through the panic as he nodded encouragement. “Carmina and…” he drew a blank, “And their boy. They had a kid same time we had you, stole the fucking spotlight.”

“Dad.”

He fell back on his ass, gun dangled from loose fingers between his knees. “Yes?”

“Rafael. That’s their son’s name. And he’s cute.”

She ended the sentence with a laugh, hopping up on her feet and twirling around his office with spread arms. Her hands drew up to her chest a moment later, smile still present, as she rocked on her heels. “He’s my age.”

“I’m well aware of the Rye family and their spawn.” He waved her off as he stood, tossing the gun on the desk as he ran a hand over his face. “And what’s so appealing about a Rye child, may I ask?”

“We only met because of his father. The way he flies is amazing! He does tricks in the air, he even teaches people, he’s training Carmina right now! One day Rafey will fly.”

John stood still, watching his daughter carefully. Capping his rage because really anyone else would say it’s unjustified. But someone from that family, out of all the people in Hope County to choose from. A disgrace, truly.

“I fly. And I can do tricks.”

“Then why don’t you?” She pursed her lips, probably going through her head, reliving the times where she saw him up in the air and definitely not doing any cool flips or spins. “Rafael is going to become an ace pilot.”

John grumbled something under his breath, a hand on his daughter’s shoulder to direct her out of the room. He’d have to speak to Rook, she would no doubt laugh, but a talk was in order. He nudged her over the threshold, a frown pulling his lips down when he closed the door, not missing her words.

“You’re not gonna shoot him, are you?”

“Haven’t decided yet. Give me twenty minutes to arrange an army. I’m sure Jacob would love to help.”

*********

**Joseph**

“You looked troubled child.”

She gave a soft laugh, shoulders drawing in tight as she hunched down in the pew. She avoided his eyes when he got down on bended knee. He cupped her cheeks when she sighed softly, “Darling? You can talk to me.”

He didn’t like the look in her eyes, nor did he care for the nervous glances she shot around the room. It had him upset before he knew what was going on with his own flesh and blood. He was meant to protect her, and he really didn’t like how she was shifting uncomfortably on the wooden bench.

“It’s not--I’m not a sinner.”

Joseph blinked at her, reeling back slightly. “Of course not.” His hand smoothed over her hair, “You’re only a child.”

“Okay.” She seemed unconvinced, eyes closing tight as she dipped her head. “But, it’s not lust, you know?”

He blinked again. Quiet this time around, because really, he did not know. Her mind was frazzled, that much was clear. “Then what is it?”

He watched his daughter’s cheeks grow a rosy pink, suddenly looking years older than his little girl. It clicked then, that when Rook told him just a week ago that she wasn’t a child any longer--a fact he refused to believe--she’d always be his child, no matter her age. But Rook was right. This wasn’t a childish problem that made her nervous and embarrassed.

She bit down on her lip, hard. He was tempted to scold her, to place his hands on her shoulders to pull her out of her head. He waited though, patience was something he had gotten good at. “Did you expect me to love someone who was apart of the church, father?”

“I--I, ah, I expect you to love everyone you come into contact with. To be understanding and kind, always helpful. To not harbor hatred for anyone belonging to my flock.”

“That’s not the kind of love I’m talking about and you know it.” There was a sudden rush of anger in her tone, the type that made her whole body tense as her jaw clenched. It was different for his kid, it was an anger that only festered in his wife, not his daughter.

“Jules--”

“No. Just listen.” She breathed out a sigh, slumping back against the pew. “I’m not a kid anymore, right?”

He bit back a smile, afraid she’d see it and think he was only patronizing her. Because she was fifteen. She was a child, but he humored her, nodding along with her words. Encouraging anything, at this point she was making him worry with all her vaugaries.

“Mom and I go into two times a week.”

“Yes, your mother visits friends, and you come home with too much candy.”

Her body relaxed, a laugh slipping free. “Mhm. Yeah, and I meet new people. I have to.” She defended, pitch rising despite him not giving the slightest disapproval. “No one here is my age, everyone here is old and…” She scrunched up her nose, “Really religious.”

Joseph ignored that subtle jab, always feeling as if Rook’s lack of faith was bound to grow in their daughter. A different matter for a different time. Instead he smiled, “And you want friends, people to hang out with. You think I’d be mad about something so insignificant?”

She seethed again, cheeks growing red, though this time with anger. Any and all traces of embarrassment erased. He wasn’t putting two and two together and Jules was starting to wonder if he had always been an ignorant, pious church man.

“I think I’ve fallen in love. Do you--You know what that’s like.”

His mouth opened, no words coming out. Making her shift, avoiding his eyes. “I suppose.”

He was infuriating. Just not getting it. And at this point she was more annoyed than upset. With a puff of air she gripped onto his shoulder, digging manicured nails in that--one day--he might claim was pride.

“Dad---”

“I know, I know.” He cooed, cutting her off with a soft look. “Sweet child, I don’t want you to fear me. Above all, I want you to be happy. Even if they aren't our people.”

“Even if they used to be apart of the resistance?”

She wasn’t looking at him anymore. Suddenly more interested in her twiddling fingers now in her lap instead of him. The silence that built up around them was unnerving, and it made her risk a glance up at him.

His eyebrows were furrowed tight. “The resistance? That was a while ago. May I ask just how old he is?”

“She.” His daughter corrected. Timidly, a small church mouse facing down a lion. When no response came, just a gentle smile coaxing more words out from her, she continued. “And he’s only a few years older than I am.” She could tell from the tip in her father’s head that he wasn’t too convinced. “You’re years older than mom. You’re an old man.”

Joseph was too surprised to be offended. All that slipped free was a laugh before his hand held tight to the pew his daughter was seated on. “Am I?”

She nodded once, a fierce defiance in her eyes. “You are.” She said pointedly, foot knocking playfully into his ankle. “You’re an old man, and mom’s a young woman. You two were on different sides. I know the story.”

His lips pulled tight into something close to a frown. He was regretting ever being so forthcoming with her. “You are intent on making history repeat itself, aren't you child?”

Jules shoulders rose in a shrug, standing with a gesture for him to follow. Yanking him into a hug with small arms wrapping halfway around his middle. “I just plan on making you and mom proud. That means starting a family, having a life.”


	75. Jacob/Rook Piss Kink

From everything she’s heard since she stepped foot into the North, Jacob wasn’t a man to be fucked with. He wasn’t as kind or merciful as his brothers and sister. And yet she had the gall to tease him, taunting the big bad wolf over the radio, laughing when he didn’t respond. 

She was itching to tell her friends how Jacob wasn’t so scary.That he backed off easy enough with a few choice words with the removal of an outpost. Then an arrow impaled her thigh the moment she wandered too far from the F.A.N.G Center, it made her mind go hazy and blank before she had the chance to call out for help.

How she got here, tied up on the ground of a bare room staring down Jacob himself, she couldn’t say. The arrow probably was drenched in bliss, filling her system with drugs. Making her complicit to whatever he wanted to do with her.

And he wanted...actually she couldn’t figure that part out. He wouldn’t say. Just droned on about how much trouble she had been, that she wasn’t as strong as she thought she was. That she was in no way a hero. 

“Are you listening, honey?” Suddenly he was crouched down in front of her, hands brushing over her jaw, deceptively kind in both touch and gaze. He looked sympathetic. 

“I--I can’t focus.”

That had him snorting, she guessed she surprised him. That not many people dared to admit their attention was elsewhere when he was in the room.

“Oh yeah? And why’s that?” His fingers twirled a strand of her hair around and around until it curled, bouncing slightly. “What do I gotta do to make this more interesting?”

“I just--Nothing. It’s not, like, you or anything.” She swallowed, wincing at how she couldn’t string together her words. Then, in a much softer voice, spoken as if someone else was in the room, “I, um, I need to go.”

The last part brought a flush spreading across her cheeks and up to her ears as she dipped her head down to avoid his eyes. 

“Go?” He teased, “Go where?”

She rolled her neck, forcing out the tension. Trying, an failing, to work up even a shred of courage despite her next words ridding her of all her dignity. “I need to pee.” She clarified. Shuffling uncomfortably where she sat, legs aching to be drawn up to her chest as a loose form of protection, unable to because of how close Jacob was. In her face with his feet planted on either side of her thighs. Forcing her legs to straighten.

“Well then, go on. I’m not stopping you. No one else is here, you’ve got your privacy.”

Her mouth opened, closing shortly after. She couldn’t argue with him. It wasn’t in her nature. So her mouth clamped shut, tears threatening to spill at the mere thought of not having the right to use the bathroom.

Jacob stood with a sigh, his hands folded over his chest. He gave her a once over, making her squirm. When she lifted her legs to curl up, his foot came down suddenly. Crushing her knee caps in the process. 

“I’m not gonna force ya, but I imagine you can’t hold it forever. Gonna get real uncomfortable.”

Then Jacob was turning around. Taking a seat at his office chair like nothing was happening. As if she wasn’t sitting in a corner in his room with her hands tied painfully tight behind her back.

Her eyes remained shut, head down as she breathed in and out of her mouth slowly. Trying to not pay any mind to the growing pain in her lower stomach. It was more than uncomfortable. It was excruciating. A building pressure tingling around in her gut. 

She doubled over, as if that would make things better. It only put more pressure on her bladder, making a small whine escape her lips.

“We getting close?”

When she looked up Jacob had a smile tugging his lips up. Looking smug. As if he already won this fight. “Please.”

He laughed, standing to stalk near to her. “Please what? What are you asking for?”

“I need to use the bathroom.” She licked her lips, eyes darting over to the half open door where she knew the toilet was. “Please.”

“You’re nothing special. What gives you that kind of privilege?” He laughed at her blank expression. “Starting to get impatient here.” The tip of his boot ghosted over her crotch, spreading her legs slightly when she shifted away from him. “C’mon now, it’ll feel so much better.”

Rook knew he was right. That once that pressure popped, everything would be okay. She fooled herself into thinking that. For a moment she believed it.

“Can’t.” 

“Yeah, you can.” He almost sounded sympathetic.

Her head fell against his cocked knee, her cheek nuzzled in there, strangely seaking out comfort. A few beats of silence went by where all she could hear was her own labored breathing. And, of course, the smallest noise of her soiling her jeans. Ruining the fabric and the material of Jacob’s boot along with it as he increased the pressure he put on her.

If she wasn’t so humiliated she’d be proud of that fact. That his shoe was a minor casualty to this. Instead she furled in on herself, at least as much as he would allow with his foot still jammed against her core. Trapping her where she sat to wait it out until her bladder was empty.

Which took too long. With Jacob’s prying eyes on her, it made that moment seem like it was stretching out for eternity. Until the floor beneath her was soaked and her pants were darker than they should be. 

Even after it was said and done, there was still the smell. Nothing came close to it, anyone for miles would be able to identify the putrid, acidic mess she made of herself. That thought might’ve been what pushed her over the edge, or maybe it was Jacob--who was wearing a smile that almost looked soothing. Whatever the case, it had her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. Fat, ugly tears that were the furthest thing from silent.

“Aw, Kitten. What’s wrong?” When he bent at the waist, his weight shifted, still pushing down on her. “Though you just needed to piss? Now what’s bothering you?”

His finger crooked under her chin, forcing her to look at him through the tears. She hushed up as much as she could. Fearing what he would do, how he would punish her if she dared to annoy him.

“There we go, see? We’re fine. It doesn’t hurt so much now, does it?”

She shook her head, a slow moving shake proving just how dazed she was. Jacob chuckled at that, patted her cheek in faux affection that she still pressed into like a lifeline. But he couldn’t let it go, he prodded when he saw her shift, when he noticed how she cringed at the feel of her panties clinging tight to her cunt. 

Rook explain when his boot moved from her lower stomach to directly between her legs. “It’s uncomfortable.”

“So I’m told.” And just like that the sympathy was gone, he was rising, pulling away and moving his weight with him. The smallest of reprieves even long after he sat down at his desk. 

“Rook?” 

He didn’t look up, not even when her response was just a whimper. 

“If you disobey me again, if I even need to be the one to push you like that, I’ll make it a public affair. We clear?”

“Y-yes, sir.”


	76. PolySeed/Rook Oblivious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of chapter 47

John was still going over it all in his head. His past encounters with Rook, the things his brother said to him--both before and after she teased him by sleeping oh so close in his own fucking clothes. He practically heard Joseph’s voice in his head, whispering in his ear the warnings instilled upon him before he made the trek over to the local sheriff's office. 

A chosen day where he had no work, and his brothers were far too busy to keep track of his whereabouts. 

It was stupid and crazy and John was probably going to get slapped in the face; or maybe kneed in the balls. That seemed more her style considering that everything she did drove him fucking crazy.

He was prepared this time though. Going in with the knowledge of what to expect. And a game plane, of course. He was a lawyer, moving forward without running through the scenario twenty times over would be foolish.

John took a deep breath before walking in. Turning off his phone before his brothers could stop him. Not that they would be wrong in trying to, because through his haze of anger he could admit that coming to her place of work would appear over the line to an outsider. Or anyone, really. 

Call him desperate. He was, insanely so. It wouldn’t hurt to show her that. 

“Deputy Rook!” John was loud enough to catch almost everyone’s attention when he spoke. Head tipped to the side almost playfully when she looked up at him. Her eyes went wide for half a second, then her cheeks flushed when she glanced around. Embarrassed of his tone or having someone so high profile show up with the intention of looking for her? He wasn’t sure. 

“John…” Her smile was exactly how he remembered it. Innocent and pure. Something so strange for a girl in her early twenties who made her way through college. No one was naturally like that. He bet he could pull something else out of her, a different kind of reaction. That was the point of this visit.

“Did you need something? You aren’t in trouble, are you?”

His eyes focused down on the floor before he spoke, before he could grab her attention by stepping closer with his palm pressed flat on her desk. “I wanted to see you. That’s why I’m here.” He held out his hand expectantly for her to grab. 

“Come on, don’t keep me waiting.” It was the impatience in his voice that had her stand up suddenly, fingers fumbling to shove a pen back in its cup holder before she allowed him to lead her. Away from her squad room, up the stairs shoved in the corner where she’s rarely ever been, and into a fucking broom closet.

She was the one who found the light, clicking on the weak bulb to take a closer look at him. “John?”

He shushed her, a finger raised to press to her lips. He took a step closer, wedged her back until she fit snugly into a corner. “You know you’ve been driving me mad.”

“I--I don’t--”

John shushed her again, more forceful this time. Hand grabbing at her waist to jostle her. “You’re such a tease.” He laughed, ignoring the concerned look she shot towards the closed door. “And I think someone should at least attempt to put you in your place.”

Her smile was shaky, waving when he dipped his head in closer. He never met someone so sheltered, a woman who looked unsure when an attractive man cornered them. It made him wonder, it made him want to know more of her past. If she was religious, if her parents were strict or if her morals were just that strong.

That need for information had him hungry.

So he pushed himself into her space until she was panting only from his tongue laving over her neck. Teasing at the sensitive skin there that he doubted no one ever touched before the way he was now. John ran his canines along her throat, felt her jugular tense before he even thought to bite down. 

He retreated, pulling his mouth away from an area that would be filled with bruises come tomorrow morning. When he looked into her eyes, he saw how cloudy they were. How unfocused they were, not really seeing him. Not even when he called her name softly. Only jolting when his arm tangled around her waist. Half fearing her swaying body would fall.

His free hand pushed her uniform to the side. Revealing a bra too lacy for someone so fucking innocent. He wanted to know if she had matching panties. If she would let him buy her a myriad of things to cover her sex.

“My brothers would have a field day with you if you’d let us.” He groaned at his own words. Daring to go further when she didn’t protest. His finger peeled back her bra just enough to stop it from cupping her swell of flesh, leaning forward so he could sneak a glance at her peaked nipple. “God, just give us a chance, Rook.” He kissed at her collarbone, nipping hard to make her gasp. 

Then he was gone. Placing a kiss on her cheek, ruffling her hair like a perfectly trained dog and backing off with a smile. And a promise of him visiting her anytime she needed, that she knew where he lived, that she was welcome.

He left her standing breathless, grasping at her chest with starry eyes and what sounded like a muted string of curse words.

*****

“You did what?”

“Now, I understand you’re upset--”

“I’m more than upset, John.”

He shifted on his feet, eyes moving down as he flinched at hearing Joseph’s tone. He was angry, rightfully so. 

He glanced over at Jacob, saw the hint of a cocky smile before he covered his mouth with a glass of sweet tea. “I think he did fine Joey.” Jacob stood with a grunt, hand clapping down on John’s shoulder. “Let him be.”

“He freaked her out.”

John shrugged, biting at his lip to keep from smiling. “She was into it.” He rolled his shoulders when Jacob’s grip tightened. Maybe a warning. “And if you’re so worried then you go and visit her. See how she’s holding up after an encounter with me. Ask her if she wants a repeat performance for me, will you?” 

*****

Joseph did not do as his brother asked. But he couldn’t help but have John’s words stumble through his head as his fist pounded a steady pattern on her door. He checked and rechecked that the address was right. Uncertainty settling into his stomach when there was no response.

John would break down her door. Claim he was worried. Joseph would do nothing of the sort. He’d stand until he grew too cold outside. Even with the impatient glance Jacob shot his way. Eager to get this over and done with despite offering to join. 

“Father. And...J-Jacob.”

His eyes fluttered, thumbs hooking into his belt loops. Gaze casted on the mountain scene to his right. “Sorry to intrude. We came to apologize.”

“For a pair of men who I haven’t seen in weeks, you two really do look like the guilty party here. What did you guys do that I don’t know about?”

“It’s more about what our brother did.”

He heard her laugh, and that drew Joseph’s attention. It had his heart beat wildly as he tore his eyes away from the Montana backdrop. Shifting Jacob’s imposing form out of his periphery. 

And he sucked in a breath. Heard Jacob do the same. Suddenly realizing how John wasn’t completely at fault. Not when she kept pulling stunts like this. The outfit she was wearing would make his mother faint, grasping her pearls. The preacher from his childhood church would be ready to dunk her under the holiest of water to cleanse her soul. The people at home down South would not be pleased with the pretty image they saw in front of them. Or their internal reactions for that matter.

“Are you--Uh, ah...bad time, I hope. Do you need a moment to get decent?” Jacob snorted beside him, not bothering to look away the same as Joseph did.

Rook at least had clothes on. It looked as if she just stepped out of the shower. Though her hair was more than halfway to being dry. Her clothes clung tight to her body from the water, a tiny tank top showing off her navel from how she must’ve thrown it on in haste. And her shorts didn’t deserve the title he granted it.

He wasn’t entirely convinced that they weren’t panties.

“I’m dressed.” She pointed out. Blinking with wide eyes. 

“Barely.” Jacob mused, forearm resting comfortably on the doorframe.

If she heard him, she didn’t show it. Only cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “Why are you here? For John, you said?” Joseph shouldn’t talked more to Jacob about how they were going to approach this, because he wanted to push, to bring up what his brother had done to her in a closet at her workplace. But judging from the coloring in her cheeks, he could assume she knew what he was referencing. 

Joseph was starting to see the appeal. And he knew Jacob did from the dirty remarks he made in the car, phone pressed tight to his ear, presumably speaking to John. Stoking a fire.

Not like he could blame either of them. He wanted her. They all did, and they were getting impatient. She had to know that at one point their feelings would bubble over. She couldn’t be that guarded to not see their lust. He understood now. John was only trying to make things clear to her. 

Joseph got angry with his brother, unjustly so when she wasn’t being fair to them all. It’d be so easy to give her a little push. To nudge her in the right direction. 

He did exactly that. It was simple when her hand was pressed to his arm. Rubbing in small circles to catch his attention. Concern making her features look haggard. Eyes flicking towards Jacob’s momentarily before she blushed all over again.

His hand covered her own, stopping its movements. A second passed where she only made a confused noise in the back of her throat before he took a single step forward to kiss her. She went frozen beneath his lips. Not opening up for him, even when he asked ever so nicely with the swipe of his tongue over her bottom lip.

He went to apologize, to pull back and say he was sorry. To Jacob and her both. 

“Joseph…” She pulled him in again, not kissing, just pressing in close. Grabbing hold of the nape of his neck, shoving her face down in the junction of his shoulder. It wasn’t all that John had, but it was good as they were, with her thin clothes letting him feel every curve.

If they sat like that long enough he swore he would know her body just as intimately as a lover would. But then she was pulling away, laying a single kiss to his lips when he only stared at her with awe held tight in his eyes. 

“Jacob?” She tilted her head, looked up through long lashes and flinched when he invaded her space. There was a blush painted high on her cheeks, showing off her shyness despite the bold display of a kiss. She tried to get more words out, to show that she could be just as confident as he was. 

Joseph knew that excited Jacob. He didn’t say anything, just took a step back to let Jacob whisper something in her ear that he couldn’t catch. Joseph flinched when he heard Jacob’s heavy hand slap down on her ass. Jolting her forward into his chest. 

She looked everywhere but him after that, forced when Jacob’s finger hooked under her chin. “Don’t be a stranger Rook.” 

Joseph felt confident for once as Jacob brushed by him with a smile, proud at seeing how flustered he made her, so before he turned fully to follow his brother, he tossed her a wink. Laughed under his breath when she blushed again.

Hook line and sinker.


	77. Joseph/Rook Secrecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Non con public sex with Joseph, with Rook's friends not too far away looking for her?

This was a church for fucks’s sake. The first church to be introduced as Eden’s Gate property, the kind that Joseph built right alongside a very loyal bunch of his followers with his own hands. It was just as sacred as any other holy place, no matter how many crazy people with skewed morals packed into there years past on every Sunday. Just awaiting The Father’s next orders or the next person to wander too close.

It was remote, a small sorry excuse of a building meant for preaching. It made the church on his compound--the one built when their following began to grow uncontrollably large--look like something glorious. She didn’t even know such a church existed until five minutes ago, when she stumbled across it with her head buried in a crumpled up, torn map, searching instead for The Lamb of God church. Not this mess.

Certainly not Joseph Seed. Who smiled wide, showing off damaged teeth from a hard life with a twinkle in his eyes when she stammered out that she was, in fact, not searching for him. That this was just a simple mistake and not fate, it wasn’t at all a reason for him to be closing the distance between them for him to try to coax her into the eroded walls that trapped in the heat.

“Everyone needs guidance once in a while, no shame in admitting that. Please, it’ll only take a moment of your time Rook, what’s the harm?” And on and on and on with him begging for her to enter his stuffy church to join him in prayer.

Joseph looked more unhinged than normal. Dirtier too. Like he hadn’t taken a shower in a while, allowing his bare chest to become marred with mud. His hair was hanging low without being tied up. It curled at his shoulders from the sun, hanging in greasy strands that fell into his eyes.

He was a crazy man in the woods, living off the land like the Great Lord intended. Maybe awaiting God’s orders, praying in what she would call a glorified shack. And just like before--when she arrived with the intention of arresting him--she walked into his life to fulfill his prophecy.

She said yes because he was closing in on her and his hands were cradling his jaw, she could feel the strength thrumming beneath his fingers. Threatening to break her jaw, or maybe choke her until she was limp in his arms and unable to deny him.

“One prayer,” she whispered it like she was the dominate one, putting anger in her voice for leverage, pushing him away and ignoring how she involuntarily shuddered at the look in his eyes. “I’m supposed to be meeting someone, and I don’t need them asking questions about this adventure. I’d rather not explain why I was in a fucking church.”

“Language, child.” He chastised softly, a hand on her shoulder to lead her inside. 

It was really worse when you entered through a door too small that even she had to bend over to fit through. It actually looked larger from the outside, but when you stepped through that threshold everything dialed in to a small space that made walking difficult. It made breathing hard. There was nowhere to sit, only mats laid on the ground to soften the blow whenever someone got down on bended knee. 

Which is where she found herself a second later when Joseph’s hand on her shoulder became rough. Pushing her down as he shifted his grip to the back of her neck, squeezing to tell her to stay. Like she was a misbehaving junkyard dog.

“I can recite so many prayers off the top of my head to attempt to teach you something today, but why would I do that? After all that I’ve said, all my family has said to convince you...surely a few bible verses this far along wouldn’t be enough to convince you.”

“Joseph--”

“Father.” She heard his disappointment, the dad like tone and the parental sigh that let out made her shoulders hike up around her neck. “The least you could do is grant me that respect.”

“Sure, fuck, whatever. Father, I said yes. Go ahead. Pray.”

He hummed, moving to drop down behind her. With them both on their knees he was still taller than her. Looming above her, cradling her body with his own. Leaning over her until she was forced to bend under his weight. 

Her palms instinctively pressed flat to the wooden floor, ready to buck him off. But he must have felt her tense, or maybe she was more predictable than she wanted to believe. Because he had braced himself, and the force of her shoving him away was like trying to move a brick wall. 

“We have tried to do so many things to save your soul. All of us want you to be safe when the collapse comes. Understand that after our mercy runs out, we have other methods that may prove more your style.”

Rook wasn’t sure what he meant exactly. Not that she didn’t know it wasn’t a threat. As pious as he was, he was threatening her with violence. Using the lousy excuse that she did it first. But she’s been through worse, heard worse too. So she laughed under her breath at him, uncaring to silence that. This was practically a game for him, some crazy game in his mind that he wanted her to follow. She’d imagine that’s why she wasn’t fighting back. There was no reason to, not really, not when her friends were somewhere out there waiting for her. They’d come looking, probably annoyed at her absence. She’d be fine. 

He hadn’t tied her up or covered her mouth. All she would do it yell out, make some kind of noise that seems suspect--and everything in Hope County should be suspect--and they’d come running.

“Yeah? Try me, let’s see if this works, I’m game Father.”

“I’m happy to see you so willing. You see the importance of having a clean soul.” He was more speaking to himself, moving away from her to turn her around, forcing her legs to straighten so he was between her spread thighs, leaving both hands on her shoulders like she would even try to get up to run.

Joseph smiled, fingers moving deftly to pop open the buttons of her shirt. She didn’t panic, she choked that feeling down since all the Seeds were touchy feely. Nothing new. He left her bare and freezing in her bra. The force he used had such strength behind it, more so than she thought possible when he shoved her down on her back. Than he was wrangling with her belt, ignoring her weak protests. 

“I believed you said you were--how’d you put it?” He laughed low in his throat, “You were game? Stay still, Rook.”

It might’ve been fear that kept her in place as he undressed her. Or shock. Perhaps some sort of sick worry that the Seeds always have a way of getting things done, that’s what had her sit back to watch Joseph undress himself after he finished with her. 

His hands slid up her thighs, moving her legs apart wider with a soft smile. It was almost comforting. And her body was reacting. Moving naturally with him as he coaxed her on her back to hover over her.

“Rook?” It was a faraway call. Barely there, and it would have been inaudible if it wasn’t so damn quiet in Joseph’s little church. It was enough though, it made Rook jerk under him, legs squirming from how Joseph slotted himself between her until their hips smashed together. “Rook?!”

“I gotta--I should probably--”

“Don’t worry about them, you’re with me now. That’s what matters. You promised.” 

She hadn’t. Not really. Him pointing out something so false made her angry. Renewed fight into her aching limbs to do something to him. She managed a good hit in his jaw until he pinned her arms above her ahead, not wasting anytime in making it easier on himself by yanking up her shirt so it got tangled in her arms. 

Her jeans slid off easy enough when she was too busy trying to free her hands. She foolishly thought that she’d be able to break free quick enough to get up and run. No such luck when he was surprisingly skilled at undressing with a single hand. Keeping one on her body at all times. 

Her panties--some sheer, lacy material that made him blush--was shoved in her mouth a second later. 

Joseph looked at her with awe sparkling in his eyes. A smile hanging on his lips. “Oh, my child. I have spent years dealing with sin. And it’s not easy, when society promotes Lust every step of the way. I have been taught to have control over my sins. Over my own body too.”

Rook made a muffled noise past her panties, brow furrowing in equal parts anger and realization that the taste dripping on her tongue was from her own wanton need drenched on the cloth shoved in her lips. Something he was bound to find.

"Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge." He whispered the verse against her cheek, making her wince at the way his scruff rubbed her skin raw. “I say, let Him judge us.”

With his body wedged between her legs, forcing her apart, there was nowhere to hide. She was reminded of that when a chilling breeze blew through the poorly constructed wooden boards the walls were made of. She was trembling from the cold, and it had her instinctively locking her legs around his waist.

“You agree.” He mumbled something else, praising the Lord watching from above as he dropped to trace a finger along her entrance. He smiled at her, something crooked that made her stomach flip, before he shimmied downward until he was at the proper angle to lower his mouth over her cunt. Replacing his finger with his tongue. 

His used only the tip of his tongue. As if savoring her. Gathering her juices in his beard, noisily slurping it down his throat. Whatever his mouth couldn’t reach, his fingers did. They played with her nerves, dipping inside her as he licked at her clit. Increasing the pressure there until her hips bucked up. Something that was far out of her control. 

And finally, he slipped his finger inside. She hissed at the feeling, squirmed when her walls clamped down on him. It was already so tight, like she couldn’t take anymore. 

“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil and desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.” A second finger was pushed in alongside the first. Stretching her wide as his tongue continued to play with her sensitive clit. 

She cried out when he crooked his digits, it was too muffled from her panties, and God she wish it wasn’t. Because she could hear someone calling for her in the distance. Yelling her name, sounding paranoid.

All her muscles tightened painfully as he did something wicked with his mouth, groaning loudly, sending vibrations through her aching cunt. 

Then her radio crackled to her left. Static filling the room, a connection trying to reach her that Joseph only scoffed at. “Ignore it.” Like she had any choice. She couldn’t do a damn thing while he crawled further up her body so their hips could align. 

His cock bumped into her pelvis, dragging across to her wet cunt, leaving a trail a precum over her skin that he gathered with his finger. He was fast, sly too. Moving his makeshift gag to the side to jam his slick finger in her throat for her to taste. 

When she choked, muscles squeezing past the intrusion, he shoved his cock past her folds. Moving inside her in one single thrust. That was enough to have her whining. Legs kicking out in protest. To his credit, he didn’t start moving immediately. Just leaned over so his cheek rested on her collarbone as he breathed. 

“Isn’t this beautiful? The way we lie here under God’s light? I believe this is what I’ve been waiting here alone for all these weeks. For you to allow me to take you.”

He saw her jaw clench and release, struggling to form words. He sighed, a finger carding through her hair before he was tearing her panties out of her mouth, kissing her gently just once as he pulled away enough too look her in the eyes. Allowing her to speak she would assume.

“Is this how you gain all your loyal followers? This is what Eden’s Gate really is?”

Joseph laughed, like she was simply a child who wouldn’t understand. The first roll of his hips made her gasp, then cringe a second later. “No...no don’t think that way of us. This is special. A last ditch effort I suppose.” He dropped his fingers down to her waist, grabbed at her flesh tightly as he thrusted again. Pushing in deeper so she made another small whine.

He looked at little too proud for her taste. Smug too. Neither of which she assumed a preacher wasn’t supposed to look like.

“It may not be conventional, but I will do whatever it takes.” He murmured lowly when he kissed her again, breath coming out only inches from her face. He went slow, toyed with every part of her body. Moving so slow that it was almost torture, slipping in and out with gentle sighs and moans she could tell he never meant to let slip. 

When his hands followed the same trail where his cock was resting, she tensed all over. Not ready for how her legs were shaking on their own accord around his slim hips. Unwilling to ever admit that when he kissed her again, still rocking over so softly inside of her, that she felt a slow blossom of pleasure sprout up inside her stomach.

Then it was her turn to groan, to tip her head back because despite him never increasing his speed, she was close. Body already tingling with want. Her eyes had closed tight. Not wanting to watch how much more The Father was falling apart from above her. That he looked heavenly with the sun shining down on his back, or that he was beautiful with flushed cheeks.

Joseph’s fingers were suddenly on her jaw, forcing her eyes to open out of shock. He pressed their foreheads together, mumbled another prayer that she couldn’t make out past the rushing blood in her ears. He had his way though, he had her eyes wide to take him in when he made her cum. He made her see how soft he could be when she moaned his name like a whore.

And she got to see him finish from how close he was to follow behind her, she watched how his own eyes tightened shut. He didn’t pull out, acted as if her bearing his child wasn’t a possibility to consider. 

He was still talking when she came down from her high. When her breathing finally steadied and she could think properly again. He had pulled out--how long ago she wasn’t sure--his cock rested on her inner thigh as he cradled her close. Pushed her head under his chin so he could press kissed to her temple.

“You said before, Rook, that you didn’t want to explain what you were doing in this church.” It wasn’t a question, more something said for clarification as her radio blew static through the air again. “But I’ve always been a man who wanted to share his faith. It’s my job, as a shepherd. So wouldn’t it be wrong not to share with your lost allies?”

He was already stretching to grab at her radio, an easy, relaxed smile playing along his lips as he played with the dials. Rook swore she died a little inside when he spoke, shrinking further into his body. “Deputy Rook is just fine. She’s spending the night with me, safe, where she belongs. She’ll make curfew, I promise.”

It was a joke. Some twisted, cynical tone in his voice as he chuckled lowly, smashing her radio down against the wooden floor without a second thought. Kissing her fiercely on the lips when she struggled, promising more to come when he pushed a finger inside her walls. “You are safe now darling, right here with me. Now you have faith.”


	78. PolySeed Headcanons Cheating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the Seeds would react to being caught cheating on Rook

**Jacob**

  * Jacob was wide awake when Rook stumbled in from where ever she was that late at night. He took advantage of her restlessness. Knowing that she takes trips days at a time to just be alone.
  * She walks in and he’s not exactly being intimate with the woman sprawled out on _their_ bed, not cuddling like he does with her when the nightmares get to be too much, but he’s still sitting on the edge of the bed. Head tipped to watch her sleep. It’s just intimate enough to make Rook sick.
  * She makes no noise when she walks in--she thought he’d be asleep after all--and she watches him. Goes over the scene of clothes tossed everywhere and slammed the door shut. She was wrath, she was fucking pissed.
  * Jacob is alert in an instant, standing so quick he stumbles. He’s just as naked as the harlot tucked safely under the blankets. He doesn’t even have the decency to look apologetic. He just stares blankly, waiting for her to make the first move. 
  * And when she does, she screams. He tells he to be quiet, of all things, and actually looks nervous she’ll startle his play thing. 
  * Despite how mad she is, she does whisper yell, maybe it was instinct as this point to please him. “What? Afraid I’ll wake her? That I’ll ruin this little relationship you’ve got going?”
  * “It’s not a relationship--don’t act stupid, Rook.” 
  * Rook doesn’t bother to unpack the bag she took with her for her trip, she wants to leave immediately. She tells him this, close to tears. “You know how hard it is to love a man who insists on not being loved? A man who thinks he is unworthy of me? I’m trying, and you aren’t. You never try, you’re content to let me pull all the weight, huh Jacob?” She has to catch herself from calling him Jake. They’re not that close anymore. She doesn’t know this man.
  * He still doesn’t bother to get dressed, and he fucking apologizes to his new lover when she wakes up. A hand motioning for her to lay back down, a gesture meant to soothe her. Something he’s done for Rook so many times before.
  * Rook understandably leaves before he can explain himself. She doesn’t wait to hear him tell her that he felt insecure, that those doubts began to creep in again. That he’s only ever done something like this twice in his past.
  * He doesn’t think any of that matters now. 
  * He finds out later Rook is staying with John. Looking towards him for a shoulder to cry on, and for a perfect lawyer who knows how to help her get a divorce without her ending up broke and sans her belongings.
  * Jacob doesn’t fight it when John is the one to grab her things out of Jacob’s office to deliver to Rook. He just hands John a letter of apology. A last ditch effort to get her back, that’s as far as he’ll go for now. He’ll hope that’ll be enough to bring her back lest she makes things difficult for them both.
  * In fact, if she even tries to leave the county, he’ll be sure to get her back. He’ll keep her caged like an animal, mirroring the first time she entered his region and they were enemies. He’ll train her to love him again.



 

“You know pup, running away like that, can’t say that’s fair. Not when you never gave me a second chance. People make mistakes, even you have your faults. Now hush, don’t start yelling. I can leave ya here, all alone in this dark room, stuck inside this cage for a couple days so you can have some time to think. I don’t have to visit you daily. Not when you’re so damn rude. That’s no way to treat your husband. You’ll learn though. That was just a moment of weakness for me, and so long as you’re right here, I won’t have a reason to doubt your love for me.”

 

**John**

  * John is on his knees begging by the time Rook opens the door to their room. He’s out of bed so fucking fast that she barely sees what’s going on. Barely.
  * She still saw him. Curled up with a stranger, his head resting on her chest, hand dipped between her legs, basking in the afterglow with his mouth around one of her nipples. She saw bruises and bitemarks and so much sin. But he got out of bed so fast that she swore she was imagining the whole scene.
  * He’s literally at her feet, clawing at her hips and kissing her stomach. “Darling, dearest, please, please just listen to me. Let me explain.”
  * He’s so desperate and he’s on the verge of tears. John’s not a hard one to figure out, she knows him well. This isn’t an act. He’s real close to hyperventilating and he’s starting to worry her. So she grabs him until he’s standing. He lets her cup his cheeks and rub her thumbs across his beard. Ignoring the woman in her bed for now to prevent John’s panic attack.
  * “It’s fine John. Breathe. You got five minutes, talk to me.” There’s an underlying current of anger beneath her words. That’s probably what makes him move so fucking fast in the next moment. He’s snarling out his words, roughly grabbing the stranger to manhandle her out of their bed. He’s shoving her out of their room with orders to get out and never come back lest she wants to be strung up on one of the bridges in the Henbane. 
  * John’s all teary eyed and apologies. Begging for forgiveness. Going as far as to grab a blade from his bedside table, telling Rook he would repent. He’s still naked so it’s easy for him to just say some prayer and cut into himself.
  * On the chance that Rook leaves, John will still atone for the adultery he committed. Only going to Joseph after his body is riddled in cuts. Joseph would be the one to convince John to track Rook down. Joseph has seen such a change in his brother when Rook was in his life. It was the kind of love John never got before that he desperately needed. Joseph understands more than John does that he’ll fall apart without Rook. 
  * But if Rook stays, she would have to be the one to stop him from slicing into his skin. The knife has to be fought for in order for him to relax. 
  * Either way, once she’s with him again, in his ranch, he’s locking the both of them inside their room. He just won’t stop talking. Asking for her to understand, making sure she still loves him. The whole nine yards.



 

“Please. Please don’t leave. You m-might not understand. Or care to hear my side, but you gotta know how fu-fucking hard this has been for me. To let you love me and to try and trust someone when everyone I’ve known has stabbed me in the back a-and kicked me while I was down. I know you love me, I just forget sometimes. It’s so hard to believe someone like you wants the broken mess that I am. Just please, please stay.”

 

**Joseph**

  * Joseph doesn’t know what to say at first. He’s waiting up for her when she comes home, sitting in his just his boxers with his head held in his hands. He stops her from speaking, calm when Rook’s face shows true concern for how messy his appearance is.
  * He immediately admits to what he has done. Doesn’t try to sugarcoat it. Laying out all the facts in a mournful voice. 
  * He stays calm when she raises her voice. Which makes her angrier. Joseph doesn’t try to beg for her forgiveness, he doesn’t verbally fight back, he doesn’t even seem to mind when she slaps him. He knows he deserves it. That sinners like him need to be punished. 
  * He assures her that whoever he had sex with is long gone, that they won’t be showing their face around for a while. 
  * Joseph doesn’t protest when Rook suggests he sleeps on the couch, or that he leaves outright. He knows what he did was wrong.
  * So he grabs a pillow and blanket and makes his bed on the pull out mattress. He’ll stay like that for months until she lets him back in if that’s what it takes.
  * He will be overly demure for the next few weeks. Head always pointed down, a lack of eye contact. His voice will be hushed, as if he’s afraid of making another mistake in Rook’s presence.
  * Joseph will prayer endlessly for her hasty forgiveness, but he won’t be the one to go to Rook. She has to come to him if she wants anything to change. He doesn’t want to push--he no longer has that right--he knows that. So he’ll wait for her until she accepts him again.   



 

“Rook? I know, I know. You’d rather not hear my voice right now. Just this once, let me explain. Then I’ll leave you alone, you have my word...if that’s even worth anything anymore. Know that I’ve confessed and atoned. I payed for these sins in the eyes of the Lord, He has forgiven me. But I can see the anger you harbor for me. I still haven’t earned  _ your  _ forgiveness. Perhaps the one that matters the most. I will wait for you, my darling. I’ll wait for years if that’s what it takes. I’ll be right outside your door, you have this choice to make. And I’ll respect whatever decision you come to.”

 


	79. PolySeed Headcanons Bad Habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seeds and their bad habits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of these might not even be considered bad habits, so I guess I added all sorts of habits and quirks they might have. Whether or not those may be self destructive

**Jacob**

  * Jacob, despite not getting a hard on for his own voice like his brothers do, always finds a way to interrupt people. He’s one of those guys who is constantly finishing off people’s sentences before they can get their words out. Flat out annoyed that their not speaking faster. 
  * He’s not a soldier anymore, despite being in a war half the time for trying to defend Eden’s Gate. And that past makes him ansty. He has all this energy he can’t get rid of. Even with his morning workouts, he feels the need to move during the day. So he walks around and cracks his knuckles endlessly. Not only does the sound make Joseph sick, but it scares the shit out of people. 
  * He’s not trying to be intimidating, but he stands around all imposing, cracking his knuckles as you attempt to hold a decent conversation.
  * Jacob is a monster in public, he has no realization on what might be considered wrong to do with others around. Which is why, after a hefty meal of (Probably) meat, he picks his teeth. Right in front of people. Not bothering to explain as they talk to him and he jabs his fingers around in his fucking mouth. Bonus points if he goes in for a handshake to say ‘see you around,’ or just past them on the shoulder with saliva covered hands.
  * To some extent all the Seeds may have to had dealt with this, but Jacob never grew out of it. He’d have a problem with chewing and eating too fast. Shoveling food in with barely enough time to breathe. And not for the reasons of him being a behemoth of a man, but because of his childhood. The book of Joseph stated clearly that when money was spent, it was spent on alcohol, not food.
  * There’s still some deep rooted fear that he won’t know where his next meal is coming from. 
  * John was young and never really had a chance to form that habit. The Duncans were rich and never used starvation as punishment anyway.
  * Joseph was homeless for some time, but he had a job at one point. And a wife and child, he was supporting himself somehow.
  * But Jacob had to fight at juvie, where kids are cruel and could steal everything you had, including your food. Then came the war, and out there in the desert, their were slow paced air drops when food was running sparse and the meals weren’t coming quick enough. 
  * Not to mention how he almost starved to death before he ate Miller. The man knows hunger. And when he feels hungry, he rushes to get food and barely tastes it as it goes down. He has definitely bit his tongue a few time from this ordeal, he ever drew blood once.



 

**John**

  * I feel like all of John’s bad traits would be self destructive. Like chewing on his nails. As much as he prefers to look perfect 100% of the time, with expensive clothes and perfectly coiffed hair, he doesn’t even bother getting a manicure. He’ll end up chewing his nails down until they’re all crooked and janky.
  * Most of the time he’s getting sick from shoving his disgusting hands in his mouth.
  * John does paperwork, he’s a lawyer trying to make sure no one gets thrown in jail and he’s a busy guy. So his desk is crowded with documents and from this, he always has a pen tucked away somewhere. Whether in the pocket of his jeans or clipped onto his shirt and sometimes, if he’s stressed enough, it’ll wind up behind his ear with his hair ruined and tousled. He’s constantly clicking that pen. 
  * God it gets annoying. The Seed family is having dinner and he’s sitting there clicking that fucking pen over and over again. Not realizing the death glare Jacob is sending his way.
  * He also chews on the pen when he can no longer chew on his nails. Not like he replaces his cheap pen, which cost like $2. No, he carries around a pen with a bunch of teeth marks in it.
  * Whenever John gets hurt, which is too often really, he can never let the wound heal. He’s always picking at it. Tearing at skin long before it can scab over. When he was young, it was a form of extra punishment. Now he just likes the way it feels, it brings this rush of strange pleasure he can’t get from anywhere else.
  * John has a habit of eavesdropping too. He wasn’t a successful lawyer because he knew how to play fair. No, when someone is speaking in his near vicinity he can’t help but tune in. Most of the time it’s pointless chatter, but it excites him. He likes to walk by and hear snippets of conversation...and then get backtracked on what he was supposed to do just to conspicuously hang around to hear more. 



 

**Joseph**

  * Joseph grinds his teeth together to no end. He’s a stressed man, in charge of an entire county. He’s scared and nervous. And with no way to get out that stress he grinds his teeth. Making John yell at him for needing to find another dentist--because that’s difficult in a war zone. 
  * He does it so unconsciously. But it gets worse when he’s anxious. His teeth are about to fall out and hurt so bad from doing it. He’s sure he does it in his sleep, seeing from when he wakes up sometimes he finds his tongue swollen and the inside of his cheek sore.
  * Joseph constantly has to fix his little bun thing he has going on because he’s always tugging at his hair. Which ends in his hair becoming weak and makes him rip his hair out. Than that transforms into something almost therapeutic but dangerous for obvious reasons. 
  * Joseph should have a bald spot by the end of Far Cry.
  * He is a natural listener. He has to be, it’s in his job description. And while not necessarily a bad habit, it annoys John to no end with how Joseph will encourage others to continue with soft ‘ahhhs’ and ‘mhms.’ Joseph claims it’s to show he’s paying attention, but it’s a constant thing he does no matter what conversation he’s holding and it makes John want to drive his head into a wall. 
  * You can’t convince me that Joseph doesn’t leave the toilet seat up. He just...doesn’t understand why he’d put it down, even with a woman in his house/life. He’d look so confused if someone were to mention it to him. Just sorta shrug and say ‘but can’t you push it down? It goes both ways, up and down, you know.’ Of course his brothers don’t mind too much, they get it. But god forbid if you were to live with him.
  * He’s gotta have bad posture. That image is something that fits with him. And something that John chastises him about constantly. He’s in chronic pain and does not fight John when he somehow tracks down a masseuse specially for Joseph.  




	80. John/Rook Unfair Relations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John’s reaction to Rook becoming an item with Sharky

What did that man have that John didn’t? Surely not class, for John was dressed in the finest of clothes that cost as much as the working man’s car. Definitely not a proper home. Because John had acres of property under his command, even a beautifully crafted ranch fit for the scenery overlooking his valley.

He had money and looks and smarts.

Charlemagne Boshaw didn’t have shit. He had a fucking flamethrower used for the express purpose of ruining everything John worked so hard for, but that was about it. He just couldn’t understand the appeal. Why did Rook go running to him at the slightest beck and call? Perhaps it was his blind loyalty, where John saw Boshaw act the same way, following her around with a dopey smile on his face.

John figured she had a thing for sinners. That had to be it. Because every single time John sent out his men to track them, they were committing the most heinous of crimes. They would be lounging on the very edge of a dock, nursing bottles of beer. Smoking weed in the middle of a fucking field, shrieking with laughter.

Sinners made Rook croon.

If that’s what she wanted, then he could give it to her. He dealt with heretics whose souls were seconds away from being bound to the fiery pits of hell, it should be easy to put on a show. 

It’s not like he changed his clothes or muddied up his face, those were his best attributes! No, no, it all laid in his actions. And catching her at the right moment. Making sure she was alone, he didn’t need the competition Boshaw offered. 

When he did approach her, skirting around the edge of the forest with cautious steps, his Rook was already indulging in the luxuries life offered. It shouldn’t have surprised him at this point, but he still sneered when he saw her there, glossy eyes and a decked out revolver held loosely in her hand. Her legs dangled off the arm of the lawn chair she sat in, because low and behold, as drunk as she was, she couldn’t sit in the chair properly. Sprawling across it sideways with her head fallen all the way back.

John couldn’t help but think she’d get an awful knot in her neck if she didn’t move soon. 

It wasn’t much of a challenge to approach her. Especially considering how she noticed him as soon as he stepped away from the cover of the trees. Her head turned with a disinterested pace. Cloudy eyes tracking him as he walked towards her.

“Mind sharing?” He gestured towards the beer bottle she was holding loosely. Before she could answer he snatched it from her, having to bite his lip to avoid laughing at the slow way she looked between him and her now empty hand.

“Didn’t say yes.”

“You didn’t say no either.” John shrugged, pressing his lips to the rim to take down a swig. “I’m impatient.” He hid his wince well under her probing gaze. The alcohol burned all the way down. Searing a trail of fire in its path. It had been too long since he tasted beer as cheap as the one she had. His own office was filled with fancy wines, something fit for a guy of his caliber. 

She was still watching him by the time he regained his composure. Eyes narrowed and suspicious. 

“Are you gonna make me kill you?”

“Wha—I don’t—“

“Because I’m too drunk for that. And high. And tired. Just don’t make me kill you tonight.”

He nodded once, as if they were sealing a deal. Then, as if just realizing what she said, his eyebrows rose, “You’re high? You must have something on you still. Something to share perhaps.”

Rook snorted, undignified as she raked her eyes down his body. Judging him from head to toe before she dug into her pocket. Her face scrunched up at the amount of concentration that required before producing a tiny baggie. 

A status symbol from John’s past. But probably not as expensive as what he was used to. It didn’t matter, weed was weed right? 

Except it wasn’t. Not really. The first drag he took made his eyes burn and had his lungs contract painfully. Rook laughed at him, leaning to snag back her beer, dangerously close to falling. And she would have too, if her forearm hadn’t been braced on the meat of his thigh.

It was a quick touch, something she’s done with friends countless time for the action to be an instinct. Her arm was unjustly pulled away as soon as she could fall back comfortably in her chair. But it had John's head spinning nonetheless. More so than the cheap beer and shitty weed. 

“First time?” Her face was one of mirth, an unabashed smile making her features light up as she eyed the blunt he was holding. 

There was a swell of anger that made it hard to breathe for a second. Then she was giggling. Shaking her head just to finish off the drink she had. “Kidding Johnny, kidding. Everyone knows you used to be a wild child.”

John wanted to shove that title in her face. Make her see for herself what it meant to be a ‘wild child.’ Maybe give her a story to tell her friends. And that was a thought, wasn’t it? One that made John’s jeans tighten.

A fact that didn’t go unnoticed by Rook considering he was still standing. 

“You’re one of those guys, huh? So what did it, the booze or weed?”

“It’s just been a while—“

She hummed, a teasing light shining in her eyes. “I bet. Not so wild anymore than, guess Joseph really does have you on a fucking leash.”

He had a feeling he wasn’t supposed to know she thought that. It sounded like something said between friends who harbored hatred for him, like he had walked in on the middle of a conversation he wasn’t meant to hear. 

Once again, there was anger. But she was smiling still, easy and relaxed despite being inches away from him. 

John smiled back at her, put all his charm into it as he fell down to rest on his knees, his hand holding tight to her shoulder. Feigning the effects he knew would come with a belly full of alcohol and drugs coursing through his veins. 

“That’s not true.” His words slurred on completely his own accord. Done so well he almost convinced himself. “Don’t speak about me like I’m some kind of domesticated pet.” He pointed in her face, gesturing with his hand that still held the blunt. And Rook simply chuckled, leaning forward—into his touch—to take a drag herself. She breathed out, directing the smoke into his face. 

“Dunno.” There was that smile again, teasing and so not meant for an enemy like him. She reached out, less than an inch of space between them, to tug at his hair. She twirled a strand round and round until it naturally curled when she let go. She watched it bounce into his eyes. “Had a bet goin’ with a couple of friends.”

John didn’t take the bait. Just bit down on his lip out of anger. He didn’t need to hear about her so called friends, who were uncaring enough to let her get wasted all alone without any protection. “I’m assuming it has something to do with how wild I am.”

She tapped his nose playfully, finger drawing down the bridge and along his jaw. She wound up tugging at his ear, dangerously close to ripping his earing out. “Mhm.”

“Would you like a demonstration? Maybe settle that bet.” 

Rook seemed to stick out her lower lip in concentration at his words. But it was impossible to tell in the fading light. She sat properly, swinging her legs around to toss the beer bottle somewhere in the tall grass around them. She gestured with her hands, as if to tell him to hurry on and do whatever it was he was planning. “Go for it. If you’re still as crazy as you once were, you’ll be making me some money.”

John was more than happy to oblige. His eyes lit up at the opportunity she handed to him. Not like she had much time to read into his charming smile, because suddenly he was straddling her. One hand braced on her shoulder as a ploy to make it seem like he was worried about falling off her lap--which in turn brought her hand down on his hip to help steady him. His other hand stole the blunt back, raising it to his lips for another drag. It was easier the next time around, his body relearning all that he tried to forget.

Joseph would be happy to hear about how willing the deputy was to accept him. John would simply lie about the methods in which he used to draw her closer to him. 

“Wanna try something?”

She hummed, head lolling back to watch him, squinting despite the lack of sun. “That’s why you’re here.” She nodded weakly down to where their hips were aligned, insinuating that if the circumstances weren’t as glorious as the prospect of easy cash, she’d be stabbing him.

John just laughed, curling in on himself to make himself look smaller. Like he was nervous, as if she was still the one in control even with all the drugs and alcohol. He went as far as to make his hands shake as he took another drag, feigning all that pent up energy someone in his position might have. 

He bent down to reach her lips, fingers digging into her shoulder as a reminder when she didn’t close the last of the distance between them. 

He can’t remember the last time he’s done this. But it was stupidly intimate, more so than he ever recalled. Maybe that was because all those who were willing participants of this in his past were nameless, to be replaced come next week. This was different. He wanted this, he wanted to have her, to claim her if only to satiate his envy.

John couldn’t tell if she had experience with what he was doing. The way she fumbled to make their lips meet could be the alcohol, or maybe she was actually nervous. Scared he’d turn on her? Or excited? He wasn’t about to ask. Not when she was the one who breathed in the smoke he blew into her mouth then eagerly turned her head to dive in for a kiss. 

John was greedy, he had her. But he wanted more. 

And he figured he would have gotten it too if he had the foresight to turn off her radio. Because he flared to life by her side on the grass. Someone’s voice crackled through, a man voice who he had grown the loath. 

The fucking irony of it all was enough to make John groan in protest. Kissing her neck as she grasped at the plastic to raise it to her lips. He missed their conversation, but he was sure he had to leave lest he wanted to get caught. He had a feeling this was the kind of thing to spread like wildfire, that really it’d be his reputation getting torn to shreds while Rook prospered. 

He was distantly aware of her apologizing, grabbing at his hand to kiss a knuckle before he was staggering away. Because it defiantly had been a long time since he’s indulged in those sins, and his head was swimming. He was off his game, losing his footing and slamming down on his knees.

Rook laughed, and he heard her make her way towards him in the darkness until her hand rested comfortably on his shoulder. “You should sleep it off, besides, going back home smelling like booze and weed isn’t a good thing I’d imagine.”

“What? And I should stay to hang out with your friends?”

“We were going for a swim, actually.” And his head tipped over to his left where he could just barely hear the rushing of water past the trees. “You can sleep on the shore, no one’ll bother you so long as I say so.”

That did funny things to his stomach, it made a wounded sound punch out low from his gut as he nodded dumbly. “Or I could join you.” Because he was aware she probably didn’t own a swimsuit, and he’d spend weeks kicking himself if he didn’t capture that scene.

And going by how she snorted a second later, she knew where his mind had wandered to. “Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

His eyes fluttered close when her hand raked through his hair for a fleeting second. God, if she only knew how badly he needed her. How he’d give everything just for a taste of what Boshaw had gotten, she’d twist him so badly around her little finger. And he had to admit, he didn’t dislike the sound of that.


	81. 1 Year Anniversary!

Happy one year anniversary to Far Cry 5! I just wanted to remind everyone that last year, on this very day FC5 was released to the world. Which is a cause for celebration. I’d like to thanks everyone who read my works and who gave me the requests that have expanded into making a second part for all these one shots. This fandom is beautful and I hope it won’t die out in the near future. Everyone have a wonderful March 27th, I’ll post something later in the day to commemorate this day.


	82. Joseph/Rook Mating Needs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alpha!Joseph and omega!femDep, him claiming her when she stumbles upon Joseph while he's having his rut

Joseph was a mess. Shaking out of his skin, eyes shut tight, as if the light was a physical force that could kill and maim even behind those golden glasses fit snugly on his nose.

He couldn’t see her through closed lids, but he could smell her. She could tell from how he cocked his head to the side like an actual dog seeking out comfort and not a man going through his rut. 

Shouldering it all alone, up on a mountainside like he really was a prophet and was waiting for God to direct him towards someone who could ease his pain. She supposed she fit the bill pretty well, that she showed up--her heat coming along just as fast as his--wanting just as bad as him. 

“Rook?” His voice was a meek whisper, his vocal cords wrapping up tight to restrict his words.

“Yeah? You know my smell that well already? Kinda creepy Joseph.”

He huffed out something that turned into a cough. Then his eyes were open, watching her carefully with a guarded expression. “You leave chaos wherever you go, Rook. You’ve left quite the trail along your warpath. Everyone knows your scent.” He struggled to straighten his back, trying to ease the tension knotting along his spine. He watched her carefully, holding his head in his open palms. “Your scent is hard to forget.” 

His glasses had slipped further down his nose, showing off his eyes more clearly the next time he sought her out with them. “Don’t you feel it?” A quick switch in topic that made her freeze from utter confusion.

Then he was on her. Like her presence had been enough to invoke a sudden surge of strength and energy he hadn’t had moments ago. He was on his feet and scrambling to reach her. Throwing his arms around her neck. 

The force of him slamming into her made both of them stumble until her back crashed into a tree, still very much attached to Joseph. Who had taken an interest in her throat, jamming his nose right where her scent gland was, breathing in the pheromones her body naturally gave off in order to attract.

His hands held her jaw, kept her still with a surprisingly strong grip as she tried to jerk her head back. Her own hands moved slowly, carefully deciding where she could touch him to push him away that wouldn’t result in him growing more crazed. Because the man in front of her wasn’t Joseph. Not really. He wasn’t in control anymore, this wasn’t the Joseph she knew. The man who was pious and respectable was lost to his more primal instincts. 

So she ended up grabbing a fistful of his hair and tugging. Which did wonders for him apparently. He staggered a step away, a groan pulling free from his lips. Then he was back on her, closer now, if that was even possible. Nipping at her ear to distract her from the way he slotted her thigh between his legs.

That’s when she felt how hard he was. His cock a solid line pressing against her jeans. He was rocking back and forth, making obscene noises that were far too loud.

“Joseph--Fuck.” Said out of anger more than lust. It made him whine though. Had him going boneless against her. Yet he was still able to pin her down so she couldn’t move. 

“Behave, omega.”

There was a rush of heat coiled neatly at the pit of her stomach, threatening to snap at his words. She almost gave in, for a moment she forgot all that they were to each other just to satiate her urges. To please the alpha in front of her.

Instead she straightened her arms, shoving him away and catching him off guard. “Don’t do something you’re gonna regret.”

“Regret this? Claiming you as my own isn’t a mistake. It’s not some thought that only came to me now that I’m in my rut. Oh Rook,” He swayed on his feet as he neared her, breathing in her scent with tiny panicked breaths. “Surely you’ve dreamt of this too?”

She absolutely has. Of course she has, everyone dreams of it. Of meeting their mate, their other half. Someone who could grant pleasure after pleasure with no signs of stopping. And perhaps, on more than one occasion she imagined that man was Joseph Seed. Then again, other times it was John, sometimes it was Jacob. It just so happened that Joseph was more available right now. 

He was ready and wanting, an unmated alpha who was asking her if she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.

The answer was yes, and somewhere along the line of him questioning her and her staring at him slack jawed, she must’ve let those feelings slip. Because the smile he gave her was sickly sweet moments before he was on top of her again. Overpowering her in the best of ways, knocking the both of them to the ground so he could climb on top of her.

It was in no way unwelcome. She wasn’t in her heat, not the same as Joseph was. But just by being near an alpha who was, it spurred things along. And that 2 month window would probably shorten down just to a couple of weeks so she could sync up to his own heat. That was something she was looking forward to. 

To being just as sensitive as Joseph was. Just as receptive to the smallest of touches, moaning at soft kisses that didn’t even meet his lips, only brushing over sweaty skin. For now though, she could guide him through it. Make his heat a little more bearable. 

And maybe, maybe she could slip away from all this without a mate. If Joseph didn’t lose his mind and bite down into her neck, she’d be fine and things wouldn’t have to get so complicated. Which might be impossible with how he was already nibbling at the flesh around her throat. Leaving tiny bruises in his wake as he continued to rock his hips forward. Slamming their hips together, growls escaping his mouth at the fabric separating them. 

“Care to help? Or do you plan on sitting there all day?”

Rook opened her mouth, brows furrowing from his sassy tone, one mixed with anger at her for not ‘doing her part.’ Which was, in his eyes, pulling him out of his jeans. Like that was a reason to be mad at someone. 

She opted for laughter as he fumbled with her own pants. Doing the work for her when she still laid there, propped up on her elbows to watch him in his manic state. “You need to calm down.”

Joseph didn’t answer her, his eyes were fervent, there was a sheen of sweat coating his skin. Maybe he had been in his rut for days longer than she assumed. Perhaps he spent hours lying alone in the woods, cock achingly hard with no one to help. Maybe he had every reason to look crazier than he normally did. 

But it still scared her. She cleared her throat, reached up to grab at his cheek softly and practically purred “alpha.” It grabbed his attention, made him freeze, all his muscles locking up tight to hone in on her voice and how she felt under him. 

The whine he gave in response sounded strangled. 

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. Just calm down.”

Joseph’s eyes slammed shut, he crumpled suddenly, collapsing on top of her chest, trapping his half drawn out cock between them. “Okay.” He laughed, shaking slightly as he drew back again, moving slower now when he reached out to touch her. “Okay, yes. You’re right, you’re here.” Said as an affirmation to himself.

When he moved again, his touch was softer. Little butterfly touches across her ribs as he pulled her shirt away, going the extra mile to fold up her tattered tee to tuck it under her head as a makeshift pillow. 

“I promise to present you with nothing but the best when you return home with me. Until now, this’ll have to do.” He kissed her before she could reassure him that this was more than okay. That she had her fair share of drunken nights spent on the ground with some alpha fucking her senseless.

Then his scent swelled outward, making all her muscles go lax just enough for him to pull her pants down so that they got stuck at her thighs. He didn’t bother undressing fully either, so the first full thrust into her body was met with a patch of his sweaty skin aligned with her hips and the scratch of his jeans. 

Any other situation and she would have complained. She would have insisted they did this properly so she could find just as much pleasure in this as he did. But this wasn’t for her, not really. This was meant to keep Joseph sated, to tame whatever beast was threatening to break loose before he died from a bear that wandered across him and his makeshift campsite or he pounced on some poor member of his flock who was concerned about his well being.

Maybe it was his scent that kept her plaint under him. Bouncing in time with his steady thrusts. Arching up into him with his gentle coaxing hands under her ass, pulling her near. With each tiny growl he gave her, she gave him a new mark. She kissed behind his ear before biting at his lobe. She clawed down his back when he rocked into her a little bit faster. 

Soon every nerve in her body was alight. She was on high alert, so sensitive with the breeze brushing around them. Joseph edged her along fast, not bothering for a slow build up. Suddenly she felt a rush of warmth travel through her core, then his fingers were on her clit and she was cumming around him. 

His knot had put pressure around her entrance, stretching her wider and wider as he got closer. Now that all compounded into a burst of lights dancing behind her eyes as he thrusted one more time and his knot stuck. 

She was distantly aware that she could have his pups. That his seed could take and she would be having his child. And they weren’t even mates. Maybe he smelled her sudden apprehension, or perhaps it was just written all over her face as she leaned back on her elbows and he followed.

Joseph was tipping them on their side, wrapping his body around her like a blanket. He was warm like one, and with the sun shining down on them, the wind keeping them cool, she could almost fall asleep. 

“Rook?”

“Hm.”

“You--ah..did you want this? You really want me?”

“That’s why we fucked.”

She felt Joseph’s beard scratch along the column of her throat before there was the too sharp press of teeth against her scent gland. “Good.” That was the kind of the warning she got before he was biting her. As hard as he could, until blood spilled from the puncture marks he made and into his mouth. 

Instinctively she flinched. Cunt spasming around his knot that was still swollen inside her. He clicked his tongue at her, rubbing soothing circles on her waist until she could speak again.

“God, fuck you alpha.”

He laughed, it was the first time she heard him laugh out of joy and she shivered at the sound. “If you don’t start showing then I’d be glad to do it again. You know, since you offered so nicely.”


	83. Faith/Rook Forts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sweet sisterly bonding with Faith and Rook

When John has invited her to his ranch during the throes of winter, when stormy nights were just the norm and no longer a simple thought, she didn’t expect whatever this was. 

Sure, she assumed this was all apart of Joseph’s plan to bring her into the fold instead of killing her outright. So wanting to play the part of Ghandi as he embraced her when she rolled up in a stolen ATV, meeting her halfway down the steps only to pull her in like she was already apart of the family was almost expected.

John never mentioned his brother would be joining them for this civil dinner, but she could handle Joseph’s religious speech. Nor did he tell her that Jacob would be there too, sitting sprawled out on the couch with dirty boots ruining John’s expensive coffee table. Looking just as haggard as she felt despite him not having to run around like a lamb threatened to be slaughtered.

And he certainly didn’t mention Faith being anywhere near his ranch with them. 

Rook remembers Faith just fine. She was almost as scary as Jacob was. With veiled words and threats, with too much power on her shoulders for such a young woman. Rook felt like these moments, a family dinner, would belong solely to the brothers.

But Faith was most definitely here. Skipping out of the kitchen where Rook could hear John whistling, to greet her with as much enthusiasm as Joseph showed only moments prior. 

It was like the family Rook never had.

“Oh, really?” She blinked at Joseph, at his sympathetic and all knowing frown. Did she say that at loud? Like a fucking fool? Going by Joseph’s concerned gaze, she’d assume she let those words loose.

She only shrugged, raised her chin a little higher and squared her shoulders. Jacob laughed, probably at her. At her feeble attempt at not showing any weakness, whether that be mental or not. 

“So many have come to us looking for a family when their own proved inadequate. It’s okay, we understand.”

John saved her, he walked in then, appeared around a corner with a spatula in his right hand, an oven mitt covering his left. His whole demeanor brightened, like a switch flipped on as he caught sight of her. Whatever was in his hands was quickly discarded on a passing table as he grabbed her by the shoulders. “Darling! I didn’t even hear you come in.”

And just like that the topic was changed with John’s constant babble. It was like he was afraid of silence, as if no sound at all would swallow him whole and leave nothing left. He talked her ear off, grabbed her wrist and gestured for Faith to follow them back into the kitchen.

He spoke to her as he cooked, flitting around the kitchen like a natural in his element. Rook’s eyes flicked over to Faith once or twice from where she sat on the counter. Her legs swinging back and forth, waiting it seemed, for what, Rook was scared to find out.

“Do you think I could steal Rook away from you brother?”

John paused, his head half shoved in the oven, “Be quick Faith,” He waved a hand at her flippantly. As if Rook’s life wasn’t in danger being alone with her, “Dinner will be ready soon.”

That’s all it took for Faith to whisk her away, holding her hand in a bruising grip. Rook tried to plead with her eyes to someone when they crossed into the main room. But Joseph’s back was turned towards a bookshelf and Jacob only huffed a laugh. He even had the audacity to wave, wiggling his fingers with a smile.

If Faith didn’t pull her up the stairs so fast she would have grabbed the half empty cup of coffee of the table and poured it in his lap as they passed by. 

Faith had brought them…somewhere. A place Rook should have guessed would be in John’s house, though she had never seen. It was probably an office, judging by the desk centered in the room and the bookshelves and filing cabinets lining the wall. 

“We’re allowed to be in here?” Rook gestured weakly around, taking note of the lack of windows, meaning a lack of a proper exit seeing as Faith blocked the door, standing firmly behind Rook when she shoved her forward in the room first.

All she got back was a giggling laugh, and hands on her shoulders. Pulling her around so they could face each other.

“Of course we are. What’s Johns is mine. We’re family. He won’t mind.”

Rook bit her tongue. Didn’t mention how Faith was replaceable, that so many before her had that same mindset and look where that got them. That really Joseph didn’t love her the way he loved John and Jacob--the one’s sharing his blood.

She felt like that’d be a good way of getting a puff of bliss in her face. And she’d rather not go through dinner drugged up on the kind of drug that made the truth spill from anyone’s lips. 

Instead she smiled at Faith, watched from afar as she twirled around the room, seemingly grabbing things at random. She bent to open and close drawers at John’s desk, dropping them at her feet when her arms became too full. She yanked a blanket onto the floor when previously it rested comfortably on the back of an ornate looking couch. The pillows were quick to follow. 

Rook knew John, maybe better than Faith at this point. Because there was no well in hell he wouldn’t be pissed if all his things were thrown on the floor carelessly like they costed so much less than they were. 

“Have you ever built a fort?” Faith asked innocently, like this was normal for them both.

“I--ah--I dunno. Once or twice, with my parents.”

Faith hummed, mouth screwing up tight. And if Rook didn’t know any better she would call that look in Faith’s eyes envy. Her voice was tight when she spoke next. All that false cheeriness gone in an instant. “My parents didn’t like the mess it caused.” Then, almost as an after thought she added, “what? Your siblings never wanted to join?”

“Didn’t have any sisters or brothers.”

 

“Shame.” Then she was back to singing softly under her breath, organizing the two chairs around that framed the desk. The blanket was small, not allowing the chairs to be too far apart, but it worked as the tiny opening to their makeshift base. 

For someone who had never made a fort before, it wasn’t half bad either. Rook told her so and felt a bloom of happiness burst inside her chest when Faith laughed shyly. Like she wasn’t used to compliments not involving her role in a war.

She stood back and let Faith work hard on rearranging John’s office so she wouldn’t be held accountable for the mess. But when it was done, Rook was itching to hop inside. To have those memories all come back of when she was a tiny kid who felt dwarfed inside the forts she made of translucent curtains she stole from the kitchen and stray blankets from her parent’s room. She would lie on her back spread out like a starfish and imagine how magical the world could be when she was older.

The effect wasn’t the same as when she was a kid, she was taller now, and she had someone to share the fort with. She was pressed into Faith’s side, skin getting scratched by the lace decorating Faith’s dress.

It took mere minutes later when Rook smelt what must’ve been dinner. And she was about to tell Faith, to shake her and scramble to clean up the mess they had made. But when she glanced over she saw how peaceful the woman looked. That she was completely at ease and practically asleep with closed lids.

Then someone knocked on the door and their little bubble was popped. Faith jolted, sucking in a sharp breath as her head swiveled towards the source of sound. She even had the audacity to smile at John when he peeked his head in. 

“What is this?” Carefully controlled anger Rook assumed. She followed Faith’s gaze to her brother and saw mirth in his eyes. A half smile tempting to break out into a wide grin which, if Rook saw it, she would have assumed it would change his whole appearance. 

“Got room for one more?” He sounded nervous, eyes suddenly downcast as he stepped into his office fully, shutting the door with a soft click. 

Faith was already agreeing. Sticking her hand out from the ‘tent’ opening. Then John was inside, trying to squish his body beside theirs. Legs hiked up to his chest with his shoulder jammed into Rook’s stomach from how he decided to lie down. 

He tipped his head back to look at her, “Joseph wanted me to get you. Dinner’s ready.”

“And now you’re here.”

A blush spread across his cheeks as he laughed. “Well--uh..It was tempting.”

Rook hummed, daring to wrap one arm around him to yank him in closer. She placed her free hand on Faith’s knees and definitely didn’t miss how she winked. 

This time it was Joseph’s voice and Jacob’s heavy footsteps that made the siblings jump. She felt their muscles tense underneath her fingers when Joseph walked in without knocking, Jacob lagging a step behind. 

Joseph took in the scene. How John was curled up like a cat, half sitting in Rook’s lap. How Faith looked so much younger, carefree too. And Rook was in the center of it all, wide eyes with a cautious gaze, looking like she belonged. 

“I suppose we’re moving dinner up here then?”

He smiled when he said it, gesturing for Jacob to grab whatever they put on the dinner table only moments before. But that was fine, this was all perfect really. Especially when Rook didn’t look scared, no, she looked eager. She was already theirs, she couldn’t deny that after this night. Not when she laughed when they did and accepted their tender touches disguised as nothing more than platonic. Yes, after tonight, Joseph was sure that she couldn’t just walk away. He had to make sure of that when she had the ability to make his brothers so happy just like they were when they were children.


	84. John/Rook *Continuation of chapter 72*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook remembers and goes to John for more

She’d think with the amount of bliss forced into her body that night, she wouldn’t remember a thing. Because though everything was a blur, the bliss was a hard feeling to forget. Maybe it was the bruises that brought it all rushing back despite her fear for finding out the truth.    
  
They dotted around her neck in the form of teeth marks only a human could form, her hips had tiny purple bruises in the shape of a splayed hand cradling her. Along her stomach was a deep yellow set bruise that made her think she crashed into something--a wall?--and was held there.

 

She was twisting and turning in the mirror Dutch had provided her with. Trying to conjure up any sort of memories from last night, because what should have been there was just darkness. A blank void where her memories should be.    
  
The last thing she recalls is cursing at a finicky fish that she couldn’t wrangle in. Being too loud since she had bed down in the Henbane and all she’s seen of Faith so far had been ghostly apparitions that never even touched her. It was just her and her rod that almost snapped in two.  

 

Then nothing but the aches over her body and the bruises that decorated every inch of her skin. It was with her hand tracing over the spots on her hips when it came back to her. Not in bits and pieces like in the movies for plots sake. It came all at once, with horror etching it’s way across her face at what he did to her.

  
She remembered the tail end of it all, when the bliss struggled to keep her contained, and she didn’t exactly remember hating it. If she concentrated hard enough she could hear him whispering, moaning, giving her praise. It really shouldn’t have been the thing that she masturbated to later that night when she slept under the stars. Ways away from Dutch’s bunker because she had a phone call to make. 

 

Rook didn’t need Dutch questioning her when he inevitably heard John’s preppy voice through the thick walls that separated their rooms. So she took up camp with a tree canopy as her only form of shelter. And she called John, like any sane person would do. She raised the radio to her lips and didn’t even rehearse what she was going to say. She was too angry for that. 

 

“What the fuck did you do to me?”

 

There was silence on the other line, and for a moment she came to the realization for the first time that John may be asleep, he was still just a human. 

 

“I know you did  _ something.  _ I can’t remember a damn thing and there are bruises--”

 

“What makes you think I was the Seed who laid a hand on you? Faith uses bliss more than I do.”

 

“Maybe because of the whole spiel you delivered where I’ll ‘swim across an ocean of pain.’ Ring a bell?” She kept it to herself that her anger was for show, that she enjoyed what little she recalled.

 

John hummed thoughtfully, shifting wherever he was, making something creak as he moved. “Okay, yes, I see how you could assume I would do something like that to you.” He laughed, shifting again and making a low noise in his throat so Rook wasn’t fully sure that he wasn’t touching himself. “And yet you called me.”

 

“So you could explain.”

 

“Or maybe I’m simply a booty call for you, that’s it, right?”

 

“Most people hate being nothing more than a ‘booty call’ John. You’re gonna get a reputation for being a fucking man whore if you’re not careful.”

 

John’s laugh was loud, a booming thing that made her flinch. “I guess you have a point. But you’re not backing down deputy. You want something from me. Something more than the sheer knowledge of what went down between you and I, don’t deny it. And if you really want to know that bad, then stop by, my doors are always open.”

 

It took her two weeks to decide what to do with John’s offer; 14 whole days for her to realize that maybe she did want him to take her in again. Because she went over it night after night and decided how unfair it was that he knew the pleasure formed when their bodies collided while she remained ignorant to that night. 

 

That was the argument she’d present to him if he asked. 

 

Which he didn’t. He only smiled at her when he opened the door with a sway in his hips and such a sauve casualness that made her blood boil. Her pride almost made her turn around, he didn’t get to be that smug about this. 

 

But he was already grabbing her upper arm, dragging her inside before she could protest or make some kind of defense as to why she was on his doorstep. Her mind drew a blank on anything that wasn’t lustful anyway. 

 

He didn’t take her upstairs like she thought, not like she took time to imagine different scenarios involving him and her tucked inside his ranch with only God as their witness. But John seemed like the kind of guy to absolutely need a dozen silky blankets under him while he fucked. And yet he was content to throw her down on the carpet in front of his fireplace, which was already lit. Embers flicking in every direction, logs black at the edges as if they’d been on fire for a while.

 

The fire lit up his face from her angle below him on her knees. The smile he wore looked devilish, and it shouldn’t have sent a thrill down her spine like it did. She shuffled forward though when he beckoned with the crook of his finger, despite the warning signs of this man being capable of the most heinous acts, she leaned into his touch. She closed her eyes, as if she didn’t get the memo that they were enemies.

 

“Should I even bother asking what you’re here for now? Will you let go of your pride and just admit it?”

 

Rook wanted to bring up his similar feelings of lust, jab it in his face the same way he was doing about her so called pride. She didn’t forget who he was though, she couldn’t risk that. And back talking him could lead to a new tattoo. She had a feeling he’d get off on that.

 

“Staying quiet then?” John prodded, raising an eyebrow as he drew her closer until her cheek hit his hip. “That’s fine. You don’t need to use your words. Actions are good enough, it gets the job done at least.” He laughed, like he told a joke and expected her to smile along with him. 

 

Rook was led only by the fingers tangled in her hair, not exactly tugging, he probably knew that she would sink her teeth into any patch of skin she could reach if he did that, but the force of his hand was so very present. Hard to forget. He had that aura about him. 

 

“Go ahead, last time I did all the work. I think it’s only fair if you return the favor, deputy.”

 

She was staring down the bulge outlining in his jeans, half obscured by the too large, intricately made Eden’s Gate belt he always wore. He was serious. Judging by the cocky smile he sported, he wasn’t kidding. He expected to be serviced. 

 

“Fine.” Rook bit out, hands scrambling to take off his belt with sharp tugs that jostled him where he stood. “This is the last time.”

 

John hummed low in his throat, eyes slipping shut when her hands dug into his waist, ready to pull his jeans down. “Whatever you say Rook. It’s your call.”

 

When she did work up the courage to yank his pants down, she made a curious noise that caused him to squirm. “No underwear? Really John?”

 

He shrugged, hand tightening in her hair to urge her forward. Looking nonchalant about it. Carefree too, like he had expected her to come to him all along. “It’d only serve to get in the way.” Then he was frowning, eyebrows drawing down tight as he stared at her. “But I didn’t bring you here to criticize my life choices. Suck.”

 

Rook snorted, biting back a full laugh when his scowl got meaner. What did he expect when he spoke to her in such a demanding tone that she figured only Jacob would use. 

 

She did listen though, for probably the first time since she got to Hope County. She took someone else's orders, followed them out semi willingly. Because she did want this, that wasn’t easy to forget, not when she fed his length past her lips with a pleased whimper. 

 

He wasn’t thick, lacking girth, more length than anything, not like she’d tell him that. But he was a definite heavy weight on her tongue, invading her mouth until she felt her jaw ache seconds after she felt his head bump the back of her throat. Her nose buried in his pubic hair before she had a chance to figure out how to tackle this, it had been longer than she liked to admit. Not like John was giving her time, he wanted this now. 

 

That was evident in the way his fingers tightened, forcing her to move as he pleased. He set the pace, which was faster than she would have chosen. It made saliva pool at the corners of her lips, had her choking when his cock head repeatedly slammed into the back of her throat. Which only served to make her muscles spasm around him, and if his cut off groans were anything to go by, he didn’t mind that he was choking her. Stealing away her oxygen just to rut away into her mouth.

 

“See? You did want this, you wanted it back then, when Faith handed you to me, and you want it now. You’re so obedient when someone gets their cock out, huh? That’s all it takes apparently.” He was laughing, constantly talking, petting at her hair when she kept bobbing her head, offering praises as he cooed at her. 

 

“You just needed someone to put you in your place.” Each word was accentuated with a rough jut of his hips striking forward, and each time she curled her tongue around him, pressing down on the underside of his cock until she knew how to make his knees buckle. “There,” he murmured, softer now, speaking gently with both hands, cupping her cheeks affectionately. “Keep doing that deputy, might have to ask for a repeat performance.” 

 

His chuckle was cut off with his own moan. A strangled noise that made her whine from how good he sounded. Then he was emptying down her throat, toes curling onto the wooden floor as he struggled to stay standing. 

 

John was quick to fall after he slipped out of her mouth, drawing her in close to his chest as if he never intended to let her go. He was whispering something she couldn’t hear into the crown of her hair, laying kisses to her cheek, then her neck as he forced her head to tip back.

 

“John?”

 

“I know, I know.” He pulled away, eyes still blown wide from his orgasm, a bleary smile hanging on his face. “You wanna cum, don’t you?”

 

She didn’t answer, the bastard would get too much satisfaction from that. John didn’t need her to speak though, because seconds later his hand was down her pants, pushing past her panties to shove his fingers inside her. Rubbing at where she was wet and wanting. “That excited you this much?” He pulled out his fingers, holding them up to her face to show off her slick. “You’re a dirty girl.” 

 

His hand was back inside her before she could argue. He was an expert at that, at least, exploring her body with ease. Using his thumb to roll her clit around as he teased at her entrance. Drawing her near the edge and kissing her, swallowing her moans of his name as she came. 

 

He drew the whole thing out, didn’t stop even after she squirmed in his arms from the sensitivity. He smiled at her when she cried out, anger still in her eyes as her body was racked with tremors. “Admit it, I’m the best you’ve ever had.”

 

An ego man it would seem, puffing out his chest with a crooked smile, taking in her flushed cheeks as if he already knew the answer. 

 

“A solid five out of ten Johnny.” She patted his cheek and stood, panting from exertion, fixing her pants and ruffling his hair, whistling as she walked out, only glancing once over her shoulder to take in the scene of the crumpled man still seated in front of the fire.

 

She made it three steps out his door before he pounced on her, running out the door with his jeans still undone, belt hanging loose. “That’s not fair, you only gave me two chances.” He held up two fingers, curling them into a fist moments later. “I get one more go.”

 

“That’s not--you can’t just--”

 

“I can!”

 

He dragged her back in, kissed her hard, probably spurred on by the darkness that acted as their cover. “You don’t get to leave just yet. I get one more chance. Oh Rook, I’m going to make you see God.”   

 


	85. PolySeed Headcanons Body Worship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seeds' reactions to Rook body worshipping them

**Jacob**

  * It happens when he’s in the shower. Trying to scrub away the blood from whatever poor soul wandered on his path. The bathroom door is opened half way, and really that must have been an invitation for her to join him.
  * So, of course, she does exactly that. She notices how haggard his face is and that he looks so, so tired. It breaks her heart a little. Makes her squeeze in from behind so she can hug him around his waist. She presses her cheek to his back, not at all bothered in how he keeps on bathing like she isn’t even there.
  * Jacob doesn’t care for intimacy, never has. He knows how much loving someone can hurt. That it will always lead to pain sooner or later. 
  * He just glances over his shoulder and shrugs it off. 
  * He’ll give some comment to show how uncomfortable he is 
  * “Having fun back there?” or “I didn’t really ask for help, Kitten.” She’d roll her eyes at how thick he always is, because she was trying to pour out all her love into that moment and he has to ruin it by being so bull headed.
  * She ends up being the one to wash his back for him. Kissing everywhere where the soap once was. Standing on tiptoes to kiss at his neck. 
  * That soft touch makes him flinch. He wasn’t used to it, and he didn’t want to make it a habit. Not when she could be gone one day. 
  * His fear of letting people in is so obvious it physically pains her. Which is why she makes it a habit to continue worshipping every inch of him. 
  * She’d catch him in the morning before he had to get up to manage his people, where he’d lie still and she would pay him compliments that would only serve to make him squirm. 
  * But mostly it would happen again and again in the shower. To the point where he’s expecting it and asks her if she forgot whenever she didn’t join him. She simply doesn’t go in everyday because she knows Jacob and she figures he values his space and his alone time.
  * Really though he’s starting to trust one more person other than his brothers. He seeks out her affection when they’re alone. He wants to have someone who worships him, even if he’s still afraid she’ll break his heart. The poor man is only starved for emotion. 



 

**John**

  * It’s not something he really expected, so when he wakes up and Rook is hovering over him, he freezes. Gives her a deer in the headlights sort of look. 
  * Acts sarcastic and flirtatious the entire time to hide how inexperienced he is in this department. “Oh? And what’s this? Something to confess? He’ll be all jokes about lust and sin, mistaking the look in her eyes, until she starts moving really slow. Almost hesitant.
  * And John cannot handle slow. He just can’t. Everything in his past tells him this is strange, not at all right. So he lays back extremely awkwardly as she trails down his body. Kissing each scar and tattoo, whispering praise he’s never heard. 
  * He wants to touch her so bad, finding it way too difficult to trust someone enough to treat him kindly. He starts reaching up to grab her, to shift her weight from how she was straddling him so she could press down on where he was hard. “Just let me Rook…I can...” winds up getting his hands batted away.
  * When he starts to see the sunrise peak through his curtains, he panics. He feels the beginning of sloth. But Rook quiets him down. Pushes on his shoulders to lean over and kiss his cheek. 
  * Despite her words he never truly calms down. He’s still tense throughout the whole thing. When was the last time he felt as if someone loved him? He feels unworthy and so, so undeserving. Rook can see that in John’s eyes.
  * It’s a shame that someone had the audacity to break the kind hearted boy he once was.
  * She doesn’t let the pity show on her face. Which John was careful to look for every time she pulls away from his chest.  



 

**Joseph**

  * It happens in his church, and really Joseph can’t complain. Not when she was worshipping him in such a holy place. This was God’s house (where else would be better than that?) and he has such a willing woman kneeling between his legs, it’d be a sin to deny her. 
  * So he doesn’t discourage it. But he doesn’t speak to guide her. 
  * He’s more focused on how pretty she looks. And he’s curious about what kind of intentions she had. Because right away he can tell this isn’t a sex thing. She didn’t like a slow build up. 
  * Yet here she was, tracing his scars and kissing at each mark he had. 
  * It doesn’t make him uncomfortable per se, but he can’t help but squirm. 
  * Especially when he gets hard not even ten minutes in. 
  * “What is your plan down there Rook?” 
  * She laughs so softly that it actually scares him. Until she is kneading her hands into the flesh of his thighs and he goes boneless where’s he sat. 
  * It’s like some kind of therapy for him where he can feel utterly safe just closing his eyes and letting her move him around like a doll. 
  * He won’t ask her to do it again, because he feels like that moment between them was something special that shouldn’t be spoken about. 
  * But inevitably she does it again. And again. Until it becomes a monthly ritual that makes him jittery with anticipation. 
  * He’s probably the only one who would return the favor. Without being good at it though because he’s only experienced what Rook has done to him. So his cheeks are pink while he tries to worship her like she did to him, and he makes a fool of himself but the effort was there and him being shy for once was new. Which was actually really cute and something Rook didn’t object to at all. 



 


	86. Joseph/Rook Somnophilia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somnophillia with Joseph

The last time he was this close to the junior deputy--close enough to reach out and touch, to smell, to count the varying colors in her eyes--they had both been surrounded by burning metal mingling with the scent of charred flesh, and she had been barely conscious. Though apparently, seconds later, she was conscious enough to leap from that overturned helicopter and take off into the woods, evading capture for months.

He liked to imagine that her escaping those flames was fate even after he proclaimed to his flock to let her burn lest his followers got hurt trying to fish her out to all that fire. Because now he had her, rightfully passed out this time from bathing in a stream that she probably wasn’t aware had bliss in it.

This was the Lord’s gift, and he’d be remiss if he didn’t collect what was given to him. 

He spoke to her despite her not being able to hear him. He rambled on about all sorts of things involving her place next to him, keeping up the constant chatter as he pulled her body from the river before she had the chance to drown. 

“Darling, darling, you poor thing.” He accentuated his words with a kiss to her cheek. A squeeze to her thigh and curious fingers around her breast. He let his hands wander as he drew her to his chest and into his lap. No one was around for miles, so he didn’t bother raising his head to check the surrounding forest. They were alone.

She was now safe with him. Because no one would interrupt The Father if he said not to do so. They wouldn’t dare, and he knew that the radio call delivered to the ones meant to watch over him that particular night would keep anyone at bay. 

He deserved all the alone time in the world with Rook after what she’s done. Perhaps she was the one supposed to be with him once the collapse came, which would leave him ample time to make her see his side of things. But it wouldn’t hurt anyone to take this gift early. To get a taste of what he could have if he only listened to The Voice, a reminder as not to fuck up. 

That’s all this was. Not a sin, so far from it. Because this was the one God intended for him to have, there was no way this could ever be sin. 

Joseph was more than happy to show whoever was watching him from above right now that he knew how sacred Rook was. He wanted to let the Lord know that he got the message loud and clear.

If God truly wanted this of him, than who was he to refuse?

He undressed her for the sake of warmth, it was innocent really. He could tell that to anyone who happened upon him. But no one did. The forest beyond their little clearing didn’t even stir. It was as if everything outside his world had halted for him to claim his prize in peace. 

Her breasts fit perfectly into his hands when he grabbed them, nipples peaked between his splayed fingers, her breath stuttering when he pinched one rosy bud out of curiosity. It had been so long, he almost forgot how to move with another person. And he was thankful that she wasn’t awake for this, that he had time to relearn everything lest he made a fool of himself.

Because each movement felt awkward. Just like when he was a teenage boy, grasping at her chest, rolling around her breasts in his hands experimentally, as if he was afraid to venture lower. He got there eventually, tugged at her jeans and panties in one go to get the chance to explore her folds. Which he did with a single finger, humming low in his throat at the slick he found that made his job easier.

He reveled in how she tightened around his digit unconsciously, squirming where she laid on the ground. “Shh, Rook. You’re fine.” Spoken in a hushed whisper as he kissed her navel, moving down and sucking at her skin until he was above her cunt, the dark, curly hair she had there tickling his lips.

This was sacred, a holy moment. 

“We’ll be bound tonight, won’t we? So long as you don’t fight this. Please don’t fight me Rook.” Her body didn’t resist him went he took it further. All she gave was a gentle whine in protest as he slipped another finger in, curled it up to his second knuckle and scissored his fingers to see her stretch. She’d fit around him fine, time and time again--because this will happen again if he had any say in it--she’d take him. 

He asked her once if she’d accept him as he stripped, jeans biting into his thighs when he didn’t bother to rid himself of them completely. Then he was pushing in, nudging at her folds with care, brows furrowed down, ever attentive to her face. To how she shifted in her blissful sleep. 

She took him without resistance. Their hips sliding together perfectly until he was flush against her, fists pressed into the dirt on either side of her head to keep from crushing her completely. He took several moments to steady his breathing, eyes clenched shut to the sensation of her wrapped tightly around him. 

He started moving gently, aware that the bliss in her veins wouldn’t last forever. That he would need time to bring her back to his compound. He didn’t want to think about how wrong that could go. He just wanted to live for once, to enjoy her. 

And she didn’t disappoint. She made tiny little noises, reminiscent of the baby Judges Jacob introduced him to last week. Her walls fluttered around him as she sighed in her sleep, squirming as he chanced grabbing at her leg to prop up on his shoulder. It allowed him more room. To push in deeper.

Joseph groaned at that feeling, actually whimpered from how she tightened reflexively. His hands roamed, reaching to grip onto the flesh of her thighs. Tugging greedily at her hips and her breasts, reaching to hold onto something that would ground him.

He slammed into her a little harder when the fog in his mind cleared just a tad. When he could recognize the warmth tightening in his stomach, that the feeling traveled lower, wrapping around the base of his cock. He still restrained himself, acting as if he could hurt her when she was so utterly passed out, not bucking into her like he desperately wanted to as he reached his end. Instead rolling his hips slowly, snarling between clenched teeth as he came.

She didn’t even stir as he pulled away, fingers twirling around her entrance to push his cum back in when it leaked out. She, for the moment, was unaware of the bruises he left on her. And for a moment he felt bad, regretful. But she sighed again, shifting into his hand that rested on her cheek. 

This was right. It was just. It was a gift from God for all his hard work reaching its catalyst. This was just another sign, the Collapse was upon them, and for that, she would be by his side.


	87. PolySeed/Rook Online Photographs Headcanons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seeds reactions if they found Rook's racy selfies online?

**John**

  * John was the one tasked with digging up anything on the new deputy who waltzed into town with all her bravado and misguided thoughts. Good or bad, he was meant to find out who she was. If they could use anything to their advantage to end this fight before it got worse.
  * So naturally he was the one who found out first. And he had to admit, he didn’t mind the view. Not exactly nudes, nothing close to porn, but they were close. Dangerously so. And from the date hidden in the source code and the previous information he already found about her, she’s barely 19 in the picture. Oh, that just makes his smug lawyer instincts kick in immediately.
  * He gives her a call. Just to toy around with her. He knows she’s 19 when the first set of photos were taken, but when he first calls her, he makes it seem like he thinks otherwise just to add an extra layer of mockery to this whole ordeal. 
  * “Darling, I believe that’s kiddie pornography. Someone can get in so much trouble for having those things.” He laughs at her exasperation, because of course she’s flustered. She knows what John is seeing as he’s talking to her and there’s no way he’s going to take her seriously after this. 
  * He isn’t about to charge her--unwanted attention from law enforcement and all that--but the way he speaks is enough to have her panicking. She not using her threatening words filled with wrath as is her usual, she’s just scared. 
  * John’s quick to calms her down with soft shushing noises, like she’s a child.
  * “How about we sort this out ourselves?” Really that was better for him, no one needed to know about this. “Perhaps a transaction.” He’d be so smug, leaning back in his chair, while scrolling through the rest of her not so innocent selfies. Not at all feeling bad for her, after all, these pictures didn’t completely ruin her life, she has a respectable job. 
  * “These aren’t too recent, oh how I’ve bet you changed. Do you mind sending me some new ones? My eyes only.” That would be the truth, if Joseph found these pictures he would be sure to find out the deal John made. 
  * She relents a week later after countless radio calls and harassment. 
  * The pictures continue when John sends her clothing. Panties and bras mostly, but it gives him an excuse to ask for more pictures. And that’s how their deal continues. He sends her something without her even asking for it, and she sends a photo with her wearing whatever arrived on her doorstep in response.
  * By the end of two months Rook starts to enjoy it really. With all talk of her past selfies completely erased from his mind. He was wrapped around her finger with just a few pictures. It’d only take another couple weeks to have him work his magic for her to ask him to rid the internet of those pictures the best he could. 



 

**Jacob**

  * John is visiting Jacob when he finds out. John went to the bathroom and his phone was left on the desk. Face up. The screen brightened and Jacob picked it up, why wouldn’t he? The only reason Jacob uses a phone is for Joseph, he figured John would be the same.
  * Instead when he swipes it open he finds three pictures that came in quick succession. 
  * It’s hard not to recognize the deputy that had been tormenting his family. Nothing has changed, only now he could tell her apart just from her breasts alone.
  * Jacob puts her number in his phone and waits until John goes home before he contacts her. 
  * “Heard you’ve been given out pictures. Apparently you’re quite the photographer, it’d be a shame to only let one man see ‘em.” 
  * Never overtly asks for pictures like John does, doesn’t bribe or threaten her. Just hints at it whenever she’s locked away in one of his cages. Making lewd and dirty comments that everyone in the near vicinity can hear.
  * It’s only used as a humiliation tactic, another thing to make her heel. 
  * He’d be the one Seed who would make this public knowledge to the Whitetails, hoping that would smear her image. Or at least make her distance herself from her friends out of sheer embarrassment. 
  * After she kills Eli, Jacob waves those photos in her face more so than ever. The teasing becomes harsher, “So this is who you are? And you thought this girl could be a hero? The one dressed like a fucking pin up?”
  * But he’s into it, and if she wasn’t grieving it’d be easy to take advantage of him. She really could have him wrapped around her finger, it wouldn’t take much. Though he tries to keep her under his thumb, locks her up so he can have her all to himself. Doesn’t even bother to fight her on top of a damn mountain, just slings her over his shoulder like a prized deer he caught.



 

**Joseph**

  * Disappointment is the first feeling that he makes known when he gives her a call. Which shifts to annoyance when she starts ignoring him. So, of course, he sends a capture party to bring her to him so they could talk properly.
  * It’s just him and her in his church. She’s got her hands tied behind her back and she’s on her knees, Joseph is bent to her eye level. Hands on her cheeks and lingering to her shoulders, speaking of sin.
  * He almost looks sorry for her when he mentions how everyone makes mistakes, like he’s thinking of his own past, maybe the past sins John was involved in, or even those of his flock.
  * It’s nothing to judge her on, and he lets her know that. “This doesn’t define you Rook, even if you were to do the same thing now, even if these pictures spread like wildfire, this isn’t truly you.” She’s not sure who he’s trying to convince at the end of his speech.
  * Joseph offers to house her. Put food in her stomach, give her consistent showers and a nice bed to sleep in with clean clothes for once. He has that fatherly tone, eyes truly kind, making it known that he only wants to protect her.
  * She really doesn’t have a choice in the matter. He will keep her. Even if the photos never  go public to those in Hope County. And they never will if Joseph’s insistence that John try to do something about it is anything to go by.
  * He plans on keeping her by his side, living under the same roof as him. 
  * He tells her again and again that he’ll be the one to keep her safe until the collapse comes, that’s how it was always meant to be. Right from the time Rook was young and misguided and those pictures were found.



 


	88. Joseph/Rook Another Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph and Rook just had a daughter together, but the Voice is telling him he needs to rid himself of that burden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note that the child's name is Fiana. Pronounced Fi-ee-nuh

She was so tiny, fingers barely bigger than his pinky toe. Sporting bright blue eyes that sparkled in the dim lights that lined the walls, showing off a shiny shade of green that ringed her pupil. Delivered a month earlier than intended, but perfect nonetheless. To see the light and warmth in Rook’s eyes as she cradled their daughter to her chest, it made something ache in his heart. It brought back awful memories that he pushed away before they drowned him, after all, this was meant to be one of the happiest moments in his life. He didn’t intend to ruin it with sorrow for a wife and daughter left behind years ago.

So he cooed at his daughter, surprised that Rook let him near her after hearing horror stories of his past. He ran a single finger over the smooth, unblemished skin of her cheek, and laughed when she grabbed his hand to stop his progress, making a tiny disgruntled baby noise that had Rook smiling.

That peace lasted a week. 

The Voice came to him when he was fixing dinner. He had one eye on the microwave in front of him--watching the spinning plate like it was the most interesting thing in the world--the other was focused on where Rook sat at the table, feeding their daughter, Fiana, the only way nature could grant them. 

His whole body jerked when he heard the soft, barely there whisper he hadn’t experienced in years; probably since he reunited with his brothers. It had all quieted down then, he must’ve been doing something right with Eden’s Gate, because everything was calm. Despite the visions, only occasional reminders as to what they were fighting for, he heard nothing from The Voice that guided him all his life. It had been so long he almost forgot how painful it could be. That it felt as if a jackhammer was pounding away at his temples mercilessly. Willing him to heel, to listen. 

Rook’s head was bent, petting over the sparse amount of hair Faina was born with. She didn’t notice how his fists had balled up into his pants to keep from screaming, or that his breathing had picked up to where he was approaching something close to literal panic. Yet he cowered, shoulders hiking up around his neck as his eyes darted around, as if she could hear his thoughts.

Because that couldn’t be right. The one saving grace that helped him get this far in life couldn’t ask such a thing of him. Not again. He couldn’t harm her, he couldn’t kill her. He wasn’t a fool, he knew that taking care of a child wasn’t an easy task when they were so underprepared. But she wasn’t a burden. She was only a blessing. A gift that made Rook smile more, gave her a reason to get up in the morning. It drove her every action and yanked her out of that depression the Collapse caused. God couldn’t test him when they were so close.

Maybe it was Rook’s test though, delivered through him. Meant to be carried out by the both of them. 

Even if Fiana was an innocent soul who had Rook’s genes entwined with her own, there was nothing wrong with her. It didn’t matter that a sinner’s blood had tainted what little Joseph had given her. She was pure. She didn’t deserve to pay for anyone else’s sins.

And yet those whispers didn’t go away. They haunted him when he slept. Made his fingers tremble with fear every time he was tasked with putting her to sleep or bathing her in the sink. He ran a light touch over her tiny ribcage, over her fragile beating heart, and all he could think of was how easy it would be to make The Voice stop. 

Thank God Rook hovered. That those maternal instincts were embedded into her very being. Or maybe she could read him better than he thought, maybe she could see his internal turmoil playing out over his face. She really had no reason to trust him, not after learning what he did to his first daughter. How easily swayed he was by The Voice, that he felt listening to Him was a moral obligation he had to carry out. 

Even knowing all that she continued to let him change the cloth diapers that he made especially for Fiana with his very own hands that first night, she continued to let him bathe her and soothe her cries when she grew restless. 

Joseph watched her grow. Ignored the pain in his head and the ache in his jaw as one month finally rolled around and Fiana was attentive to her surroundings. When she could lift her head and track him across the room as Rook sat with her on the couch, bending to tickle her sides and coo in her ear. 

He slipped up once, only once. Despite loving those soft moments he got to witness but was always too afraid to participate in. 

She was verging on two months old when he did it. When it got to be too much and the need for any reprieve sounded like heaven. He just wanted The Voice to be appeased in some sort of way, no matter how small the act.

He was putting her to sleep, pacing up and down the hallway. Bouncing her in his arms the way he’s seen Rook do hundreds of times.

And his feet just...froze. Everything came to a halt as his mind blanked out. And he would never really know what had happened, not in detail like he should. The next few moments would later be told to him by Rook. It was an awful story of how she woke up because he screamed, a terrible howl so full of rage and terror. When she rounded the corner, sprinting, she saw him holding Fiana under a spray of water from the sink, gripping her tiny jaw roughly the kind of way a father never should. His grip was tight and it took Rook a moment too long to pry his hands off her. 

Joseph remembers trying to put their daughter to sleep, that’s all, something so innocent. He had no recollection of harming Fiana. 

Rook didn’t believe him. 

She was more inclined to listen to his pleas only when he let told her about The Voice. He simply left out the part where their daughter was not written into their lives, that God wanted him and her in the new world, but not Fiana.

He was a shitty father. An awful husband too. If anyone deserved to die, it should be him. The unspoken promise of keeping his family safe was put at risk when he was near. The irony made him sick, it had him feel weak at the thought that he had been the problem all alone. That maybe his brothers and sister would be alive, his past wife and daughter, if he was out of the picture. 

So many suffered just from him standing by their side. He couldn’t let the cycle continue. He didn’t want to be the last one standing. 

He decided to do it at night, no one to witness the sinful act but him and God. 

Rook and Fiana were fast asleep. He kissed both of them. Pressed a slow kiss to Rook’s lips, then to her forehead and lastly to her cheek. Pouring out every ounce of forgiveness he could even if she was unaware. The goodbye kiss he gave to Fiana, placed on her rosy cheek, was the first one he ever gave to her. If he was a better man it wouldn’t have been the last.

There were no guns that worked which would make his job quick. All of them having been destroyed years ago when he was afraid for Rook’s life. 

He opted to use a blade. Ran it across past sins and through tattoos before it made a path over his wrists. He wanted to feel that kind of throbbing pain before he died. After all the suffering everyone went through, it was only fair to know their pain. 

Joseph felt like he was floating as he watched rivulets of red pour down his wrists. It was probably the blood loss, something he’s only experienced a handful of times. And strangely enough, he wasn’t scared. He held no regrets except for not writing a note to explain himself. Besides that, he was ready to let go. 

*****

Rook had no choice, he forced her hand to secure him to the same metal bedpost where she was once bound to. She was only glad Fiana was too young to remember her father chained like an animal, half dead with white bandages wrapped around him splotched red. Not that their daughter didn’t object, Rook think she did. Almost feeling bad as she squirmed in Rook’s arm when Joseph made small noises of displeasure in his sleep. 

Except he wasn’t exactly sleeping, was he? More like taking a dirt nap. Almost lost to her if Fiana hadn’t of woken her up with her cries. Thank god she was a fussy baby. And thank god it was Joseph’s turn to care for her. 

It was her wrath that forced her out of the warmth of the bed to hunt for him. To direct him towards Fiana with a pointed glare that it was his turn goddamnit. 

He was in the hall, half slumped on the wall with his chest barely moving. She thought he was dead, that by some cruel twist of fate she had been only a second too late.

But she found a pulse when she slammed down next to him, she worked fast and way too long to save his life when he was so intent on leaving them. So maybe it was spite that made her stitch up his wounds. Because who did he think he was? After everything they went through he was going to throw it away and abandon her? Leave their child with only stories to sate her need for a dad? He was a father and husband, he couldn’t make selfish decisions like that.

Which is why she put him in the same situation as she had been in. The tables turned in the worst of ways. She didn’t handcuff him out of anger for what he had done--not like she assumed she would one day. But because she loved him. If he had to stroll through miles of hell to be by their side at the end of seven years, then so be it. She’d be just fine forcing him if he said no.


	89. John Fic The False Prophet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How John reacts to hearing the Voice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter to those who celebrate! And to anyone who is on spring break, I hope you have a relaxing week off!

Maybe John hit his head a little too hard during that fall. It could be the rising smoke surrounding him, slowly filling his lungs, that made him delirious. And it was quite possible that was walking away with a nice concussion, which would explain the rising feeling of nausea along with his skewed vision. 

So this voice—not one that John recognized—that he heard call out to him could be explained away considering how fucked his body was. And yet...yet the voice sounded detached. Like it was coming from everywhere at once, no particular direction change would bring him closer. Which meant that it had to be in his head.

But he wasn’t crazy. Even as he panicked to climb out of his plane, foot catching on the lip of metal as he tumbled deeper in the ravine he crashed into, he was lucid. Well aware of the dog fight he had endured. That his key was still safe around his neck, that the deputy was still alive, fairing better than him if the sound of a plane whizzing from up above was any indication. 

No memory loss then.

It could have been interference from the radio built into his plane that fizzled out and died before he had the chance to send out a distress signal. His mind hadn’t had the chance to process whoever had received his latest transmission, they were only responding. But the radio had never worked that well, and he had been too confused to realize who was speaking.

John didn’t have time to dwell on it. Not when he was God only knows how deep into this ravine with a lack of food or shelter. A pistol he only shot a handful of times miraculously still clipped to his belt.

Meaning all he could do was walk. He picked a direction after he shouldered his coat on and he just moved forward.

He heard it again when he stumbled deeper into the caverns opening. Stopping at a running stream that he couldn’t find the source of. Crouched on the ground, back hunched as he used cupped hands to bring lake water to his mouth, he heard it again.

The sound of that voice made him flinch, caused him to tumble into the water with a graceless scream. He was cursing, crying, so confused and scared. He must’ve knocked something loose. That’s all, this could go away, one doctor visit where he was given proper fluids with the added benefit of medical treatment for the scratches on his body and this would go away.

Except it didn’t. Even when he kipped down for the night next to that same stream, shivering in wet clothes, he heard it.

This time he listened. Desperate for it to stop, he opened his ears for once while he curled into a fetal position and shook from the chill.

_ Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. _

John closed his eyes, as if he could blink out of existence just by greeting the blackness his shut lids could offer him. He didn’t understand, he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to analyze that voice or the verses it spoke in.

He didn’t have time for this. John just wanted out of this ravine, he wanted to go home and greet his family, let them know that he wasn’t dead. That the deputy didn’t kill him even if his last transmission fizzled out into nothing.

It was hell on earth in that cave. It was dark 100% of the time, damp too. His clothes stuck to his body like a second skin, making him strip completely what he thought was his first week stranded.

He guessed that If he wasn’t hearing voices then he would have made his way out sooner, maybe he would have had the drive to actually look for a way out.

Instead he waited and suffered. Until that voice became all he knew, until he could count his ribs and he could barely walk from staying curled up on the floor losing track of time.

When he managed to get off his ass—three weeks now?—he realized how close he was to the surface anyway. That right around the corner he could slip out. Except it’d be a tight fit. And for a moment John was scared he wouldn’t fit. Because though he wasn’t all muscle, and certainly not fat, he wasn’t stick thin.

Or three weeks ago he wasn’t. When he jumped into his plane and screamed curses at Rook in the air. He was healthy and spry back then. But three weeks of no food had taken its toll. But it made it possible, back then there would have been no way he’d have gotten out that way. Now it was almost too easy.

And foolishly, he believed he left everything behind in that ravine. His broken plane, his ripped up shirt and pants. Finally walking away a free man with only his coat thrown around his shoulders and his loose fitting boxers. He thought he left that voice behind too, like it was just another article of clothing to be discarded. That maybe it was all a fever dream from the lack of light and people. That maybe a near death experience would haunt a guy until he realized he’d be fine.

Then it spoke to him again. As he was making his way through the forest—too afraid to walk on the side of the road in open daylight. The pulsing in his head made him fall to his knees as he listened for the second time.

_ And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. _

John closed his eyes. He kept them shut tight for too long; until the sun moved from heating his cheeks to an uncomfortable presence that became unbearable against his back. Until the voice in his head dissipated into nothingness and he was sure it wouldn’t speak again, leaving just him and the sounds of birds twittering in the sky, with a stream flowing somewhere to his right past a thicket of trees. He doesn’t want to think about what he’s hearing in his mind. He doesn’t want to think of the implications being delivered to him.

Ignorance is bliss.

Ignorance is bliss.

His eyes knock open, head tipping up slightly as he sniffs the air like a dog. He swears he can smell the actual green tinted bliss swirling around him. Already making his vision twist and warp despite his family’s resistance to it. It had him cringing as if he could track the drug’s progress through his bloodstream.

But when he waved his hand around, trying to catch any sparkles floating on the outskirts of his vision, he comes up empty. It wasn’t real.

John laughed, a crazed sound to his own ears. His shoulders hunched in defeat. He really was losing his mind, wasn’t he?

*****

_ These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful. _

He was swaying on his feet. Silent as Joseph hovered around him. Fussing about every little thing, actively trying--and failing--to coax John to sit on a nearby bed. Jacob was the only thing keeping Joseph at bay. Expertly maneuvering John’s body as he tended to each small wound decorating his skin from his accident.

Faith wasn’t there, dead apparently. Shot and beat up to hell. Left to rot in a lake with twigs tangled in her hair. Killed while John was busy wandering the forest, trying to rid his mind of that voice before he attempted to return home. Three weeks was all it took before he gave up. Walked back like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs, head lowered as his lungs were crushed from Jacob’s embrace.

It was probably the third time he’s seen his brother cry. And yet John was quiet, apathetic with their reunion. Everything was done automatically. He opened his mouth to let Joseph press a straw to his lips, allowed in small spoonfuls of soup. He accepted the blanket thrown over his shoulders and finally relented, sitting still on the mattress while Jacob made sure he was okay.

No worse for wear. Except now he’s insane.

Joseph heard God. He was a prophet, he proved that time and time again. Whatever was happening to John was not normal.  _ He  _ was not normal. That made something ache in his chest, because that meant his parents were right. He was a born bad, a sinner, damned with a fate only a crazed man could accept.

“John? John?”

Joseph was in front of him, bent at the waist, a hand on the nape of his neck. Rubbing his hair in a way that was meant to be soothing.

“Hm?”

“Something’s wrong. I can see it in your eyes.”

At some point Jacob must’ve left, because now only him and Joseph were locked away in Joseph’s small house on his compound. Willing John to let him in on the secret. To let anyone in for once, to tell the only man who has ever cared for him what has gotten under his skin to keep him from smiling.

John did end up smiling, tipping his head closer to Joseph’s, shuddering instantly when something dark whispered in his ear.

_ Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the lord. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. _

John flinched when Joseph drew back. His older brother somewhat calmer at the show of affection. Not noticing how John’s smile fell, or how his shoulders pulled in close when Joseph laid a kiss on his cheek in farewell for the night. Those words were still pounding an unforgettable tune out in his head, long after the door clicked shut behind Joseph, making itself known. Making sure John was no longer ignorant.

A false prophet? His brother? The one who swore to lead him to safety. If he allowed himself to believe that, he may as well off himself before the Gates of Eden ever opened. 

And if he did believe? If he heeded the words stuck up inside his head? It’d be easy after all the odds stuck up against Joseph. It would be so, so simple to accept--just like the rest of Hope County--that his brother was a fraud. Something was trying to warn him, not lead him astray.

This wasn’t a test. It was a sign.


	90. John/Rook I'll huff and puff and I'll blow your house down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Holland Valley at the Pig Farm there's a voicemail about John trying to buy the place, but the owner refuses and he replies with "Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down," Rook finds this hilarious so she calls him to talk about it with him

She spoke to countless people, listened to numerous voicemails left unattended, and went as far as to read poorly written notes scattered in the rubble of what used to be someone’s home.

Through all that she managed to glean what kind of man John was. She learned about how disgustingly vindictive he could be well before Eden’s Gate showed its true colors. No detail was left out on how cruel John always was. Buying up land left and right. Offering huge sums of cash with a casual smile and kind eyes. Uncaring if it was a family business that had sentimental value or if that was their only source of income meant to support their children for years.

Some people said yes—the better choice whenever John was standing in front of you with great expectations—but others said no. Because of course they did. There was a very small percent that would give up their life works to a stranger who acted like he’s spent his whole life in Hope County. Like he was entitled to what they had.

Threats were made, she figured that was John’s usual. But this...this moment that must’ve happened right before everything went to shit trumped everything else she’s heard so far about the man.

She just didn’t know if it was true. And she had to know. Because sitting around the campfire with her friends and shoving John into the role of a dramatic bastard would be so much better if this was true.

“John.” She fingered the button on her radio nervously, eyes half closed as she stared to the right of the sun as she bit her lip. Trying to stifle her laughter as she just thought about the alleged threat he made to a good man and his wife. “C’mon John, it’s not that late. No way you’re sleeping.”

“I was using the bathroom, thank you very much. You’re very impatient as of late. Something under your skin you’d like share?”

“No, no, no, that’s not how this works tonight. I think you’re the one who has some explaining to do.”

“Me?” He sounded so utterly offended at the prospect, and that made her heart swell with pride. “Exactly what are you accusing me of this time that doesn’t involve any hypocrisy?”

She would question what he just said, but Rook definitely remembered the last time she said something about his wrath and he threw it right back in her face. But she’s never, not once, quoted a children’s fairy tale like some movie villain.

That time she did laugh, made it loud and obnoxious until he was seething. Snarling words into the radio that told her to hurry up, apparently he had work to do.

“Do you know the local pig farm here in Holland Valley?”

“I’ve lived here longer than you, dear. Yes, I am well aware of their gluttony disguised as a meager pig farm.”

Rook nodded quickly despite him not being able to see her. She recalls seeing the black paint ruining the once beautiful sign, claiming those who raised cattle were nothing more but sinners, gluttons. Considering they were feeding the community, providing for everyone, she felt like that was unfair. Instead she pushed that thought to the back of her mind, breathed in deep so she could get her words out properly.

“Good. Good, and you know who owned it...or once owned it until you murdered them.”

“Murdered? No, no they’re safe in my bunker. No longer indulging in sin.” He laughed, but it was cold, she could hear his smile when he spoke next. “But I do know them well by now. Why?”

“Okay, well, in that case, then maybe you remember stopping by there with an offer to buy their farm.”

There was silence on the other line. Absolute quiet. For a moment she was afraid she scared him off. Not like she was sorry about that, more disappointed that she never got her words out fast enough.

But then he was speaking again in a dangerously low tone on the verge of screaming. Leave it to John to have too much pride to let anyone even think of his failure.

“I do remember that. They refused my generous deal. That money was enough for them to retire and put their kid through college! Twice!”

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say someone’s gloating.”

“M’not.” It sounded like he was speaking through clenched teeth. Containing his anger when she accused him of flaunting his cash. “I don’t know what they wanted from me.”

“That must’ve sucked. And knowing you…” she clicked her tongue. “You must have been pissed. So what did you do about it when they told you no?”

“I left.”

Rook paused, mouth half open, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

Pride again.

“You just...left.”

“Of course I did. What was I meant to do, shoot them and take their land?” John sucked in an audible breath, frowning suddenly. “What version of the story did you hear? What rumors are spreading about me this time?”

Rook laughed again, head propped up on her cupped palm as she thought about it one last time. “Oh nothing much. I just believe you said, ah, what was it?” She snapped her fingers, purposely loud as if she was trying to grasp the memory, “That you’d ‘huff and puff and blow their house down.’ Dunno it was something like that.”

“Oh you have quite the imagination.”

“Yeah? Glad you think so, but even my mind isn’t fucked up enough to conjure up something like that. But I know you have an imagination like none other. So,” Her words were cut off by her own laughter, provoked because the image of him quietly seething was too much, “what the hell were you planning on doing? If you’re threat did carry any weight, what could you possibly do to match your words? Enlighten me.”

John, bless his heart, did not send an army of men after her. He did not go running to Joseph or simply turn off his radio. Probably because he knew her by now, and he knew this wasn’t something she was about to let go if she sounded so intrigued.

When he spoke next, his whole demeanor switched on a dime. Turning so warm that she got whiplash at the change. Then she knew why, he was amused too. Relaying the events in his head as he told them to her. This was still a game to him, and that moment at the pig farm, was one of his proudest moves made in this war.

“I’ll admit, I did have to borrow some of Jacob’s men. They are so much more obedient than my own soldiers. And they were just as willing to listen to me as they do for Jacob. I owed him after that one, but God, it was worth it. You should’ve been there.” John sighed, pleased with having her listening to him so diligently for once.

“To be fair, their house was in shambles after I was done with it, just as promised. Not exactly knocked down per se, but not really standing either. It was simple, real easy when Jacob is a pilot himself and knows exactly what is takes to create a wind tunnel of sorts. Just imagine this powerful surge of air strong enough to destroy a small village.”

“John--”

He laughed at her accusatory tone. “I did tell them I’d blow their house down. And I do hate to disappoint.” There was a beat of silence, he had the radio pressed close to his ear, waiting to see if she would say anything else. She didn’t, and he had to say he enjoyed shocking her. “Now deputy?”

“Yes?”

He loved how sick she sounded. Ever the good samaritan, running through the event in her mind and already feeling bad for those he hurt so long ago before those heinous papers were served on Joseph.

“I was about to fall asleep before you bothered me with this petty call. Some people can’t run on empty like you can, I’d hate to drag out that wind tunnel again. It was a hassle to assemble. Please, for both our sakes, don’t make me do that.” The radio clicked off, leaving Rook with a setting sun behind her and the thought that John probably has a whole arsenal of creative ways to ruin lives.


	91. John/Rook Love at Fist Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the community BBQ held by the Ryes, where John falls for Rook...and then she insults his watery ass mac-n-cheese

She was a thing of beauty and grace. An angel brought before him. If he didn’t know any better, he would call this fate. 

From what he could tell from only observing her from across the lawn, he could see how sweet she was. How absolutely gentle she could be. Ever since he was a young boy he’s wanted someone to treat him with love the way she did with her friends.

She practically floated as she bounded from one group to the next. Tipping her head to the side to show she was listening. Her face an open book of emotions, and it was like he was apart of each conversation as her expression twisted from concern to happiness to absolute joy from what was being said.

Her hands were always moving, gesturing despite the red solo cup she held in a death grip. She would place a hand on someone's shoulder or arm as she spoke, manicured nails digging in as she bounced on her tiptoes. 

There was a childish charm that surrounded her. She was the life of the party to him. Standing out in any crowd, making people’s faces turn into smiles when she graced them with her presence. He prayed she’d do the same with him. From what he could tell, she was sweet enough to greet everyone at least once, surly she would make a new family feel welcome. 

John kept these thoughts internal, didn’t want to bother Joseph who was busy raiding the food table after placing their own Mac and cheese dish on the plaid cloth. Even if he was standing with Jacob, leaning on the wall of the Rye’s house, he wouldn’t voice his desires. He can’t remember much of his childhood, and the few things he can recall of the eldest was so much different than the hardened man next to him.

John managed to catch her eye when she herself grabbed a plate and approached Joseph the way someone might with a frightened animal. She glanced over Joseph’s shoulder to stare at him and Jacob both, and John felt like that was his cue.

He didn’t have the chance to introduce himself. By the time he grabbed a plate of his own and bumped his shoulder with her own to suggest the mac and cheese he made earlier in the day, everything in his world came crashing down.

All his hopes and dreams dashed when she flickered her gaze between Joseph and himself and shoved a spoonful in her mouth. Her face puckered, nose scrunching up. Then someone was behind John, laughing at her expression.

“Yeah, Rook, we were gonna warn you about that one--Kim told me to--but ah, Sharky said not to and, I like him better.” 

John turned his head minutely, tried to keep the smile on his face as the scruffy man sporting glasses to hide his eyes got punched on his arm by who he assumed was Kim, his wife if the rings adorning their fingers were anything to go by.

Rook, he learned, was speaking again after spitting out his hard work on her plate. She grimaced, a shudder running through her tiny body as she stuck her tongue out like a petulant child being told to eat their veggies.

She jabbed at John’s shoulder with her fork, “you trying to get me killed stranger?” She smiled at him, unaware that he had slaved over that dish for way too long. 

But he laughed along with them, fingers digging into a plastic fork he had picked up.

Love was dead anyway.


	92. PolySeed Headcanons Suicide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Seeds cheat, Rook kills herself. Their reactions

**John**

  * John breaks. After everything he’s been through, this tragedy is what drives him over the edge. 
  * He gets real quiet, just starts avoiding everyone. His brothers, his sisters, even his faithful. No one hears from John for awhile. Doesn’t answer the door either, so when his family knocks, only trying to check on his well being, he outright ignores them.
  * He prays. Gets real introspective all of a sudden. Trying desperately to find answers as to why God is intent on making his life hell. 
  * Eventually, when he comes back to the project, ready to carry out his duties, it goes one of two ways. 
  * On one hand he could get even more wrathful. His methods of doing baptisms and taking confessions gets more harsh. He’s less forgiving, more cynical, less likely to care about others.
  * However, it could go the complete other way. He would change, switch from being cruel to suddenly sweet. People would fear Eden’s Gate, but the most pleasant experience would always be with the baptist. He smiled more, even if it looked forced 90% of the time. He would be timid, humble, taking confessions the way the rest of the world did. 
  * Chances are though, he’d never love again. 
  * There would be too much guilt along with the feeling unworthy to be cared for.



 

**Jacob**

  * If anything Jacob gets more cruel once he learns about Rook’s suicide. 
  * He expects more from his prisoners soon to be soldiers. And though he won’t admit it to anyone, that’s only because he hopes to find someone else like Rook.
  * The one thing that’s going to mend his broken heart just a little is a replacement. Even if it wouldn’t work completely, it would help distract him.
  * The fact that he barely acknowledges that Rook is dead, gone because of his transgressions, makes his family worried. Though he’ll snap at whoever mentions her. 
  * And you bet he’ll skin the man or woman who speaks ill of her. If there’s one of his soldiers talking trash of ‘the sinner who invaded their garden,’ he’ll make them wish he would give them a quick death.
  * If he does get lucky enough to find someone who reminds him of Rook, he won’t be the caring man he was to Rook. He’ll treat that one like a pet, keeping them locked away so that never have a chance to leave him. 



**Joseph**

 

  * The first thing that hits him is the guilt. He drowns in it. He might even try to kill himself, an eye for an eye and all that. He doesn’t care that it’s a sin--he knows he owes it to Rook. 
  * He starts to doubt his position at Eden’s Gate. He was unfaithful, he crossed a line and lost the one he thought he was meant to be with for the rest of his life. So why does he deserve to lead the rest of his children?
  * He’s really the only one who would take the time to grieve. He knows it’s what's best, that there's no way he can return as The Father with a heavy heart.  
  * He does his best not to forget about Rook, trying to keep her alive in his memory. Sharing stories when the opportunity presents itself however many years down the line.
  * Might even ask John for a tattoo of Rook, or something that relates to her. 
  * Joseph bounces back quick though. He has encountered loss before. He knows how to deal with it. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh.




	93. John/Rook Reverse Kidnap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Rook who does the kidnapping this time around, when John is hurt after their plane fight, Rook finds him and takes him where no one can find him

She had his key tucked away safe in her pocket. Her job was done, this had been the exact outcome she had been hoping for when she raced into the air filled with wrath.  If she really wanted to, if she could do her actual job as a deputy correctly for the first time since she’s got here, she would walk away and launch a damn rescue mission to get Hudson out of the hell that was John’s bunker.

But he looked so pitiful. Like the broken child he had once been in his stories, beaten down by his parents, tossed to the ground and tortured until all he knew was one word that changed the lives of so many.

He was still breathing. Chest moving in uneven patterns, tiny, ragged pants leaving his mouth. Which was filling with blood the more time she spent just staring at him. 

“You dead yet John?” She nudged at him with her boot, knocking him over on his side so he wouldn’t drown in his own blood. “Gonna make my job easy for once?”

He laughed, smile barely there. “No.”

“‘Course not, crazy son of a bitch.” Her words were more meant for herself. With the way his eyes were slowly slipping shut, she figured he was falling towards unconsciousness quick. Which did make this easy for her. No one could judge her for her next few actions. They couldn’t question what she was doing, not even him. No one was here to give her directions with the expectations that she’d jump through their hoops. This was her choice alone. 

So no one would ever have to know that she had been the one to make John’ body disappear from the wreckage. No fingers would point in her direction at how she cradled him to her chest like he was much younger than 32, none of her friends would ask her if she had been the one to kidnap Eden’s Gate glorious baptist.

Under the cover of darkness, she found them a tiny bunker behind some burnt down house that she was sure John didn’t even know existed. Nor did the rest of the Seeds considering that the homeowners were long gone.   

He was the perfect little bargaining chip. That made this justifiable, right? 

*****

She was there when John woke. Seated by his side, fingers playing with the edges of the white bandages she had splayed across his chest to stop the flow of blood from the bullets she embedded in his skin. 

Rook saved his life when so many wanted his head on a fucking pike.

And he had the audacity to attack her as soon as his eyes fluttered open and three seconds ticked by with their eyes locked and silence stretched between them. He was launching out of bed with little grace, trying to overpower her, to grab the knife strapped to her thigh. 

“John! Fucking stop!”

When he screamed in response, it lacked words, something akin to a battle cry as he attempted to knock her feet out from under her. She did it first, put him on his back despite feeling an immediate pang of guilt from the pained grunt turned whimper that escaped him.

“Calm down! For fuck’s sake you’re gonna hurt yourself.”

John laughed, choking and gagging a second later as she yanked him upright, accepting his weight when he couldn’t hold himself up. “Does it matter if I hurt myself?,” he asked, head resting beneath her chin, too hot air puffing out against her skin. “I don’t understand you. You’re so fucking wrathful that you gun me down without hesitation, but merciful enough to take me in and keep me warm. What are you playing at?”

Rook didn’t answer him. How could she? She didn’t know how to explain herself. She could say she was still a Deputy, meant to bring monsters like him to justice, though the crimes she committed that led up to this moment would tear her story apart. She could fill his head with lies that would stop his heart in horror for the kind of things she intended to do to him, that might work, despite him knowing pain intimately.

Instead she eased him back down, placed a hand on his chest to force him to lie back before he made himself bleed again. The supplies in the bunker, which she assumed belonged to a dead man, was sparse. She wasn’t going to risk her life scrounging around Hope County to  save his. 

Not that he would believe that. If anyone knew what she had done, that John Seed, after his fateful transmission once his plane went down, was still kicking and breathing, they’d think she adored him.  

He probably believed it himself. 

She could see it in his eyes every time she entered his room and tended to him. Every time she woke him up to check on his wounds or press food to his lips because he was getting too thin under her watch, she saw how there was fondness behind his smile.  

He was yet to say the obvious aloud. The same as she was. Even as she aided him out of bed for the first time, intent to bathe him before his wounds got infected, she didn’t explain herself. She didn’t want to put a label on what she was doing.

Not that he didn’t pry. He did, as she let him lean on her while he undressed, just as she eased him into the steaming bath, he began to ask questions.

“You haven’t left me since you shot me out of the air. You haven’t left this bunker.”

“No, I haven’t. And I can’t, not really.” Her head was tipped down, focused on the tile as she collapsed on the closed lid of the toilet, unwilling to risk her eyes dipping down in the too clear water between his legs. But then his hand was on her shoulder, squeezing, digging in his nails until she was forced to look at him. 

“Why not?” There was a hint of desperation in his voice that she’s never heard. Even when he was on the ground with her hand wrapped tight around his key and he begged her to listen to Joseph, she’s never heard him yearning for her to hear him as he was now. 

“Because once people find out what I’ve done--and they will--I’ll be crucified.” 

“Joseph would accept you. All of Eden’s Gate would. They’d paint you as a hero after what you’ve done for me.”

She looked away, tears gathering in her eyes. Stupid. She was so fucking stupid. His words were painful, because she didn’t want to play hero. It was all an act, a role she was playing to try to win a losing battle. She was only human. And humans were complicated creatures who made stupid decisions. 

“You can’t save the whole wide world Rook. I should know, Joseph tried, I watched him fail over and over again as he drove himself crazy attempting to do so. You can’t do it, but you still try, that’s what makes you a good person.”

She stood too fast, scrambling to grab a towel on the ledge of the sink. She threw it at John, uncaring at how the tips of the cloth got wet with his reflexes suffering from the concussion he most likely had. Did she have a choice other than to join them? The Resistance would throw her out, call her a traitor, but Joseph would always be there with open arms. 

John was wrong, people on both sides would distrust her after what she’s done. But he wasn’t hers to keep. So by the end of the month, when people were too preoccupied with Eden’s Gate that Rook and John would become a thought for the end of the day pushed to the back of their minds, she’d made the trek to Joseph’s compound with John in tow. She’d play hero one last time as she eased the Seeds’ pain for the first and last time.

They weren’t going to be brought to justice, that should have been clear right from the start...someone needed to help the complicated bundle of nerves they all were. Someone had to do it, and if she couldn’t fight properly, if she couldn’t do her fucking job correctly, she could at least try to fix them. 


	94. John/Rook Borrowed Clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook sneaks into John's ranch and steals his clothing. She keeps getting away with it so she finally she attempts to steal his iconic jacket

She was an amatuer in her craft when it all began. A sock here and there whenever she was in the area, or a loose pair of basketball shorts with a few holes in it. Nothing John would miss, or even come to realize if his lack of response was anything to go by.

And really, who was he to be so selfish as to not share his fancy clothes? It was only fair. He could put her through hell, drag her into bliss filled water masked as a baptism, if he only let her wear his shit at the end of the day that made her skin sing with pleasure.

It was like God was draping her in the finest of silks. Because it truly was the best money could buy. Even if the things she stole weren't anything too large. His socks--a little big but they’d do--made her aching, bloodied feet less bruised at the end of the day. Oh, and when she finally got her hands on one of his shirts, she was hooked.

Rook could really only wear it when she slept judging by how different her and John were built. It was perfect for when her job got too messy and it was laundry day at the marina. Adalaide was the one person who wouldn’t raise an eyebrow at the sudden change of attire.

She eventually learned what brand John preferred, what materials made his skin itch and which he wanted exclusively. 

She was getting good. Soon turned into an expert at slipping past his guards--and even the man himself on a couple of occasions. It was time to hit him hard, to go in for the big guns. It was a mixture of over confidence and knowing that he finally realized something was happening with his wardrobe for her to make such a rash decision.

Or maybe she was just tired. After all, her bed of choice on a nightly basis could never equate to the plush king John had in the center of his room. Whatever the case was, she knew what she was after. Something that, if stolen successfully, would make John snap. 

At least she hoped so. Hell, if she were him, she would be pissed. Especially after learning the price tag of his sleek trench coat littered with planes. Hand crafted, he told her when she prodded during her impromptu confession. 

$40,000. 

The man who specially crafted that coat should be sued. No piece of clothing should be worth that much. Not that John thought so, she even saw a smidgen of pride when he spoke of it. 

And now it was hers.

Rook sighed as she slipped it over her shoulders. Breathing out in surprise at how light it was. Though she couldn’t help feel like a kid playing dress up, snatching up their father’s shirt where it was discarded when he wasn’t home.

It was just sitting there...out in the open, lying folded up neatly at the foot of his bed. This moment was made for her, the perfect opportunity. She was quick to dash to a full length mirror across from his closet to take in how she looked. Trying his jacket on was one thing--she could even snap a few pics just to get under his skin and flaunt around the county--but stealing it was another. 

All she needed to do was slip back out the way she came. Easy as--

“Deputy, what surprise.” John’s voice made her jump backwards, right into his chest. His arm moved quick, locking into place right across her waist. “Breaking and entering now, hm?” 

She wanted to protest, to argue, tell him it wasn’t what it looked like even though it was exactly what it looked like because she was donning his goddamn jacket and if he directed his eyes a little lower he would see that she was wearing his socks that had been missing well over three weeks.

“Hush now,” murmured when all she got out was a small squeak that didn’t constitute as words. “So you’re the one who’s been taking all my things? What is it that makes you steal? Your greed? Is it to spite me? Or do you simply like smelling me?”

She stayed silent, head tipping back to knock into his collarbone. 

“Or maybe...maybe my little deputy has somewhat of a kink.”

That wasn’t a question. He was accusing her, but judging from how his arm was tightening around her, how his head had dropped to nuzzle into her neck, she figured he had a thing for it too.

“You’re projecting.”

He laughed, and god that laugh sounded better in person than over the loudspeakers of every outpost ever. “I am. You look good in my clothes.” He spun her suddenly, clutching onto her upper arms when she almost fell. “And if you wanted something new to wear, all you had to do was ask sweetheart.” 

The pet name sounded strange on his tongue, she accepted it all the same though. Melting a little bit into his touch when she realized that he wasn’t angry. That he wasn’t about to beat her within an inch of her life just to make her pay.

He tugged at the leather lapels of his jacket, smoothing them out a second later to slip his hands beneath to touch her skin. “I’m assuming you still have some of my shirts.”

She nodded meekly, a lot less confident when staring him in the eyes. He was so fucking intense.

“Keep them. For now, strip.”

“Wha--what? John?” There was a note of panic in her voice as he turned on his heel to sit on his bed, leaning back on his palms to watch her. 

“I can send you to Jacob, he’s been looking for you. Or I can indulge your want to take my things with a simple trade. Now strip.”

Jacob. She blew one of his outposts to hell and got the fuck out of his region as quick as her plane would allow her. The last radio transmission she heard from him, pairing with the stories from the locals, made her shuck off John’s jacket without further hesitation.

Rook tossed it to him, snarling when he caught it easily, folding it into his lap neatly to continue watching her. It was awkward, bending this way and that, trying to keep her body covered with her arms. Which really didn’t do much when he stood to yank her hands down by her side.

Her eyes snapped close, jumping from the sudden warmth that wrapped around her. She glanced over her shoulder, watching John carefully as he guided her arms back into the sleeves of his jacket.

“You look good. Wearing nothing else but my coat.” He circled back to her front, hands warm where they cupped her breasts. “Shoulda let me know sooner.” He leaned in close, kissing at her jaw as his hand slipped down to her waist. “Got a lot of pretty things I’d like to see you in sweetheart, god, just you wait. By the end of the month you’ll be my little play thing, all dolled up in whatever I give you.”

He held her chin between his fingers, smiling wide like he already owned her. “You have no idea what you started.”


	95. John/Rook Tattoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John with Rook and he sees Jacob's name tattooed on her ass

“What the fuck is this?” John’s voice dropped dangerously low, his hands--where they had been resting on her hips, already forming bruises--tightened until she flinched, cringing away from him. His eyes were opened wide, caught on the dark patch of ink standing out on pale skin that was definitely not his work. 

His cock had softened considerably, thoughts of his brother up in the mountains coming to the forefront of his mind just by seeing her tattoo. It was fancy, swirling text with accentuating shadows and a dark tinge of red meant to give the letters some depth. The J stood out, acting as the largest of the letters, while the others were much smaller, stacking up and lopsided. If it hadn’t said his brother’s name, he would have appreciated how beautiful it was. 

It was hard to hide considering how naked she was, ass held up in the air for him. It explained why she was so hesitant to undress for him, why she insisted she be the one to ride him for the past month. Why she didn’t dare enter his shower to join him in fear that he’d see Jacob’s name on her ass cheek.

“Rook. What the fuck?” He shoved her down, a hand held in the center of her back to keep her from moving. 

They weren’t exclusive by any means. This was just them fucking. With the occasional soft moment shared between them, with breakfast in bed and gentle kisses to will away his nightmares. 

It hurt more than he’d like to admit. Though for reasons that made his chest tighten with anger instead of envy. And he had no problem letting her know that.

“After all these weeks, with me pestering you to just let me tattoo you once. You go and get this!”

All her muscles stiffened as she glanced over her shoulder, brows raising in surprise. Her lips rose into a smile as she bucked back at him, getting her bearings for a second, allowing her to flip onto her back. “That’s what you’re mad about?”

He crossed his arms, trying to look intimidating despite how the sight of her chest swaying from her movements made his cock harden again. It lost it’s effect when he was equally naked as she was, muscled thighs parted around her waist to show off his body.

“Yes.” He stressed the word, fingers trailing along her jaw, eyes closing out of sheer childish anger. “I wanted to give you a tattoo first.”

“You wanted to mark me first.”

His head dropped, cheeks heating up. “Isn’t that what I said?”

She laughed, the sound making him raise his chin as he pouted. “John,” she reached up, back arching slightly so she could cup his jaw, thumb rubbing his beard. “You can still do it, nothing’s stopping you.” Her voice was soft, eyes sparkling with amusement as his own eyes widened. 

“Gonna be a lot bigger than what Jacob gave you.” He warned, leaning down to cover her body with his own. He smiled into the kiss she offered, hands wandering between them, pinching her nipples and grasping her breasts with fervor. “I want people to know, unlike Jacob, fucking snake that he is.”

Rook was worried for a moment, scared that she created unneeded turmoil in the Seed family. But John was smiling, he loved his brother, and as long as he could place ink on her skin he’d be fine. He knew how to share.

“I want Jacob to see it the next time you fuck.” 

“And where’s that going to be?”

“About here,” he murmured, pulling back to move a finger along the underside of her chest. “Something tribal maybe, a play off of one of my own.” Inside his felt anger rear again, angry that Jacob might not even notice at first. Jacob was an ass kinda man, he knew that much, which is why he probably chose to write his fucking name there.

John huffed, shaking his head as he leaned down to suck a nipple into his mouth. She could tell he already made his mind up, that he had mapped out the area of skin he was going to use and she didn’t have much of a say in it. “It’s gotta be good Johnny.”

John kissed the valley between her breasts, beard dragging along her skin until she was squirming, painfully aware of his cock resting on the apex of her thigh. “First though, we’re going to finish what we started, and I’m going to keep you from my brother as long as I can sweetheart.”


	96. Jacob/Rook Edging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook captures Jacob, ties him to a chair, and edges him until furious and breaks out, taking his revenge on her

When they first called Rook and told her they had a present for her, she never thought it’d be something as grand as this. She had been given clothes and shoes and money and every sort of thing people could think of to properly thank her. But never before had she been gifted something that made her taste victory on the tip of her tongue.

“Oh Jacob.” She cooed gently, mockingly as everyone exited the room to leave them alone. “What happened to you? You off your game old man?”

The laugh he gave was strained as he hunched over, his poker face slipping for half a second. And if not for the overbearing table side lamp Tammy had flicked on, Rook would have missed it. He was in pain. Not physically wounded per se. Maybe a kick or two to the ribs. Or, from the way he could barely shift in the lousy metal chair they place him in, she’d assume some Whitetail had gotten quite the laugh from giving him a swift kick between the legs.

Oh that thought made her smile. If anyone deserved such a thing, it’d be him. After everything he’s done, all the pain he’s inflicted on Hope County’s people, he deserved so, so much. He tortured people, broke into their minds and put them through so much humiliation.

Rook tipped her head to the side like a curious animal as she watched over him. She had an idea. Some sort of payback that was totally selfish if she was being honest. This wasn’t to get information out of him, this wasn’t in self defense because he was dirty and tied up. This was purely for revenge.

And since he was so intent on humiliating people, on making them less than human, she figured she could manage to do the same.

“You don’t look too good? Do you need a doctor Jacob?”

“M’not in the mood for games.” Spoken through clenched teeth. Through what she assumed was pain as he tried to cross his legs despite them being tied to the chair.

“You sure? You look like you’re in pain.”

 

Jacob smiled at her, switching back to that tough soldier as soon as she pointed out any sort of weakness in his facade. “That kid, the braided one that follows Eli around like a loyal puppy, I guess he doesn’t like me very much.” He chuckled, head tipped back, exposing his throat as he closed his eyes. “Kicked me pretty good.”

Rook thought so. 

“Want me to take a look, make sure you can still carry on your Seed legacy with only the strongest genes?” She took careful steps towards him, bending at the waist with a hand grabbing at his neck to force their eyes together. “That is unless you’re not already impotent. Old age can do that to a man.” She patted his cheek just as he bared his teeth and she got to her knees.

When he spoke next she had already managed to get rid of his belt, she was working on popping his button and working down the zipper. “Trust me honey, I can do plenty in the bedroom. No one’s ever complained. Though if you don’t believe me…”

She glanced up, eyebrows arched high into her hairline. She let out a puff of air as she struggled working his jeans down his thighs. Noticing how he didn’t seem adverse to her actions, that he even attempted to lift himself up to help her.

She just didn’t exactly expect him to be lacking boxers, or really any sort of material under his jeans. The childish part of her was tempted to ask if his dick was okay, if his skin was chafed from the constant friction. The sudden shot of warmth moving through her stomach is what stopped her speech as she took in the sight of his dick.

He was uncut, which didn’t surprise her. His parents didn’t seem the type to want to ‘emasculate’ their boys. His pubic hair was shades darker than the one on his head, making her snort as she caught his eyes. “Guess the carpet doesn’t match the drapes, huh?”

Jacob snarled, bucking his hips, legs kicking from where they were bound by his ankles. “Watch your tongue deputy.”

“You’re not really in any position to be making threats.”

Her hand moved to trail a finger across his balls, cupping them gently just to see him squirm. With her gaze locked downward, she could avoid his angry eyes when she spoke next, “It’s like a fucking forest down here. Someone should give you a trim.”

“I swear to god if you put anything sharp near my cock…”

Rook laughed. The power going right to her head as she inched her hand upwards to grab onto his shaft. He was fucking large, her hand was barely able to grasp him fully.

She slowly moved her hand up, swirling in his precum to reduce the drag. After all, she wanted him to enjoy this. And he was, if his tiny growls were anything to go by. His head had long since tipped forward, curled hair obscuring his eyes. 

“Untie me.”

Her teeth dug into her bottom lip at his demand, unwilling to look at him. Because she knew she would listen to him, that the lust in his eyes would mirror her own and she would create wonderful scenarios of what he could do to her if she just gave him the chance. Instead she ignored his demand, twisting her wrist wickedly, making his hips jerk up into her fist.

“Dep--”

“Fucking calm down Jacob.” Her mouth ghosted over his cockhead, tongue flicking out to tease him. Not getting close enough to allow him to slip his dick past her lips. 

The muscles in his stomach tensed, thighs going rigid as his breathing picked up minutely. But in the small room, it was easy to track everything, to tell when he was close. The first time she drew back, denying his release, it was beautiful. He cursed, angry and loud, fingers flexing behind him. Struggling like he really thought he could break through rope.

Rook risked looking at him, smiling at how wrecked he already was. He moaned when she started back up, mouth finally wrapped around his head, sucking softly just to hear how good he sounded.

Then she pulled back, hands falling limp in her lap.

He was above begging, Teeth clenched, bared to her like he was a wild animal. She could do this for hours and he would never ask for it. Which was fine with her--she was enjoying herself. She liked the weight of a cock on her tongue, she loved the feeling of it sliding down her throat and the brief worry of being choked when there was a lack of air getting through. 

She never let his dick move down her throat though, not caring to take him even halfway. Intent on making him squirm. He was panting when she pulled off his dick with a wet pop. She was almost tempted to finish him off with her hand, there would be such satisfaction knowing that he was yearning for more. But it’d be even better if she just left him to suffer.

Rook stood with a faux groan, stretching, throwing her arms wide with a yawn. She risked leaning forward to ruffle Jacob’s hair, pulling back just in time to notice how when he strained towards her, that he seemed a little too close. Like his restraints suddenly wasn’t as tight.

She had exactly five seconds to get that thought across before Jacob fucking lunged at her. His legs were still bound, but that really didn’t seem to matter when he dragged her to the floor right with him. He was strong enough to keep her body rooted in place with only the use of his hands. 

With one hand placed painfully on her ribs, he kept her still, while he stretched to hastily undo the ropes locking his ankles into place. Instantly he was on top of her, chest against her back. A large hand keeping her mouth shut just as she uttered a sharp cry. 

There was a few seconds spent in utter silence, where all she heard was his heavy breathing and her tiny whimpers. Both their eyes were locked on the door, waiting to see of anyone was close enough to hear her plea for help.

“You gonna stay quiet for me?” 

Her teeth sinking into his fingers was enough of an answer. He snarled at her, nipping at her earlobe, before grinding into her ass. She could feel exactly what he wanted to bring attention to. 

“I ain’t got time for games dep.” Then he was scrambling to yank off her jeans and panties with one hand. Keeping her mouth shut firmly. With a swift motion on his part she suddenly tasted her own enjoyment on her panties as he shoved it past her lips. She was already soaked, and he must’ve saw that when he drew back enough to glance between her legs because he let out a small impressed whistle. “You enjoy teasing me that much?”

If she could answer his question, she might have the audacity to deny it. All she could do was sink her teeth into the cloth of her panties, and her muffled screams didn’t do much, only serving to make him more impatient. 

The way his hands tightened around her hips as he forced her on her knees, ass raised, was enough of a warning to follow his command. 

“I should make you beg for it,” he mumbled, head tilted as he watched his cock slide against her folds. “Make you desperate until your suffering.” His voice shook as she leaned back against him slightly, his cockhead just barely slipping inside. He was hanging on by a thread, and all thoughts of revenge went right out the window as heat pooled in his lower stomach.

He was close, still riding off of the high she gave him.

Jacob pushed in surprisingly slow, wanting to at least get a few thrusts in before he came. He snarled when he bottomed out, feeling how her walls clenched around him despite being so tight already. 

The sound that filled the room was obscene, one of skin hitting skin as he rutted into her. Acting as if she was nothing more than a toy for him to play with. Even if she fought him, even if she didn’t enjoy him inside her, he wouldn’t have to say he cared. He was chasing his own pleasure. Eyes slamming shut as he leaned over her, pushing her to the cement floor as his hands wrapped around her waist to keep her in place. 

Not like she was going anywhere. The moans she let out, tiny little mewls that pushed his end along quicker was evidence of that. 

His dick throbbed inside her, aching as he pulled out only leaving his head inside. It made everything inside his twinge with need. One last time he rocked into her, hands pulling her back against him as he came. Uncaring that he should’ve have the foresight to not release inside her. His head was downed, hair hanging in his eyes as he watched her whimper beneath him. 

It clicked all at once, how she was grinding against the floor, bucking back against his softening cock and crying out at how he pulled away. He laughed, grabbing her upper arms to yank her into his lap, “Oh, what’s the matter?” he teased, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Did ya wanna cum?”

Rook buried her head in his neck, hand dropping between her legs to toy with her clit. “No, no, no, none of that.” His hand wrapped around her wrist, squeezing so tight she was afraid he might snap her bones in two. “You’re gonna get off when I say. On my terms, and the only way that’s happening is on my turf.”

She nodded, scrambling to spit out her panties as an afterthought as she panted out her words. “T-tonight. I can get you out tonight.”

Jacob smiled, showing off sharp canines, making her stomach roll. “That’s my good girl,” he praised, a hand coming to rest on the nape of her neck, “You’re gonna get what’s coming to you though, you’re not off the hook sweetheart. I can promise you that.”


	97. Jacob/Rook Eloping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph decides Jacob and Rook need to get married, Jacob hates the idea but ends up loving it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna have to make a FC one shots III aren't I? Because I've got so many more amazing requests to fill...oh man...

“It’s for the best Jacob.”

“Yeah? For who?” He glanced back at Joseph, almost forgetting to hide his harsh glare. “Certainly not me.”

“When have I ever not had your best interests in mind?”

He couldn’t cover up the way he cringed at his brother’s word, just hearing his softly spoken tone that was so Joseph--had him feeling like shit in an instant. Jacob had to turn away, focus on the maps pinned up on his wall instead of Joseph’s accusing eyes. They all had to make sacrifices in their life, they all went through hell to get to where they are today. 

Joseph saved his life. More than once. Joseph put up with his bullshit for years, and he wanted to play the role of the pissy older brother? 

“Sorry...that was--” Uncalled for? Stupid? Arrogant? None of that seemed to totally encompass how awful he had been. “I’m sorry Joe.”

Joseph, bless him, only smiled. Going as far as to take slow steps until their eyes could lock and he could reach out to touch him. His hand felt heavy on Jacob’s shoulder, made him want to fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness.

Was he always this selfish?

“Just consider it Jacob.” Joseph whispered, neck craning to look outside, to see how the light from the sun made the rows of cages shine. Probably thinking of where Rook sat, huddled in a corner of one of those very cages, scared out of her mind. Waiting with anticipation for her first time in his hands.

“She’s the missing link in all this. We need her. You need her. More than you think.”

*****  
Rook was staring out at him like he lost his goddamn mind. Her eyes went wide, then they narrowed--go figure--his future bride didn’t trust him. It didn’t matter that he was yet to put her through the trials, that he wasn’t even starving her or depriving her of water. She’s heard stories.

And she’s been working with the resistance ever since she step foot in Hope County.

“It’s what Joseph wants.”

“Yeah?” She laughed, fingers tightening around the bars of her cage, “Guess I didn’t realize that you were his little puppet, that he has his fucking hand shoved up your ass.”

Jacob’s jaw flexed as he forced a half tilted smile. He wasn’t about to rise to the bait. She didn’t get to make him lose his temper. “It’d be easier if you’d accept it. Don’t have time to play games deputy, this needs to be as seamless as possible.”

For who, he still wasn’t sure. He just knew he didn’t want another headache to add to his responsibilities when this was a supposed God send.

“You don’t have any say in this Rook.” He crouched down, hands covering her own where they rested on the bars. “There’s no reason to fight me.”

Her lips twisted into something akin to disgust. Then she was reeling back, only to spit in his face a second later, laughing as he flinched, jerking back as he wiped off her saliva. He walked away while she was cursing at him as his men crowded her cage to grab her. 

If it didn’t work out, he was sure John still wanted her, that he’d love to tame her wild soul more than Jacob ever would.

*****

She was fighting him so hard, and every day got a little worse. She pushed his buttons in the smallest amounts, not enough to garner punishment, but the things she did got under his skin. He told her--more than once--that she was being a petty brat, that she was only trying to get a rise out of him.

Rook smiled with teeth, leaning up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek in faux affection when he called her out, playing the role of newlyweds perfectly despite them being alone. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She patted his cheek with too much mockery behind the gesture before she strutted into his bathroom with a towel thrown over her arm, acting like she owed the place.

And he guessed she did. To an extent. That’s what Joseph said. What’s his is hers. 

Which resulted in fight after fight of her scrambling to gain access to just about every part of the Veteran’s Center.

“Your soldiers can use your track to train, why can’t I?”

“Fresh coffee? The fancy kind too...me casa su casa Jacob.”

“You can’t have your cooks prepare you gourmet meals and leave me with fucking lukewarm soup.”

“I should sleep on your bed.” That made him pause when she suggested it, and he pointedly ignored her. Continued getting undressed as his eyes roved over his cot. There was an indent from where the springs were wearing thin from his weight over the years, his blankets smelled so distinctly of him, and he knew how he barely fit in it himself. 

“We wouldn’t fit.”

She shrugged, following suit as she stripped her clothes off and made a beeline for his bed. “Speak for yourself.” Rook wiggled under the blankets, scooting until her shoulder met the cold, cement wall. “Your choice if you wanna join or sleep on the floor.”

He laughed, hands turning into fists quickly at the ease she developed just by being around him. Fine, she wanted to act confident, then he had no reason to dance around what their relationship was meant to be. After all, it’d be hard to ignore with their sudden proximity.

Which was a lot closer than he had anticipated.

She wasn’t facing him, thank god, he was sure that would be worse. But with her back to him, curled up in the fetal position, her ass was pressed too near to his cock. Brushing just barely against his loose boxers. And he could see curve, the way her hips formed a perfect dip. 

His fingers twitched at where they rested on the minimal space between them. There was a chance--albeit small--that she was asleep. 

Jacob reached out, wincing when the mattress creaked at how his weight shifted. That served to force her to roll towards him, head bumping against his chest loosely. Making him hope that she wasn’t this good at faking, that this wasn’t a secret they’d need to share if she was awake. 

Because at this point, calling this something other than cuddling would be sinful. His forearm wrapped around her, fitting neatly into the curve of her lower back. His leg was thrown over her, keeping her locked in place like they were something more than what they really were.

He smelled her so strongly when he tucked his head into her neck, nose wrinkling at how her hair tickled his skin. She was soft, skin slipping on his sheets, curling towards him. Seaking out his warmth like she was a puppy. God, and the noises she made, soft tiny whimpers as she squirmed, unable to get truly comfortable. 

Everything was intimate up this close. It was a kind of love that he never thought he’d ever have. He wasn’t going to let it slip away, that’s for sure. Even if he hated every other aspect of the relationship between them.

If all else failed, Jacob was sure of one thing, he adored cuddling. And he’d take that to the grave.


	98. Staci/John/Rook Where You're Meant To Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy day off on an outing with Staci/Rook and a jealous John lurking about. *No cult*

This was fine. She was an adult woman who could make her own damn decisions. Despite always having to glance over her shoulder, she could hang out with whoever she wanted. Tonight proved that. That’s why she said yes to Staci with only a moment's hesitation.

Staci always had a hint of cockiness about him, a suave arrogance that she figured was only a front. It didn’t matter, anyone would be better than John. Staci could be sweet, John was just... creepy. Sending her care packages and letters, bundles of flowers to her fucking work place just to get her attention.

He didn’t get to dictate her life. She had friends, she went out. This was  _ her  _ life.

Her hands shook only a little as she climbed into her car, one eye on Staci in the passenger seat and the other on John’s off white van in the parking lot. Watching her, or waiting for her?

She’d rather neither.

And if she had more balls she’d tell him so.

Instead she was---lurking didn’t seem right---it implied she was doing something wrong when that couldn’t be further from the truth. In all reality she felt like John should be the one who felt guilty. He was making her life a living hell. Making her check too many times in the rear view mirror for his car that was hard to miss on the bland stretch of road she had chosen.

“The fuck are we going Rook?”

“Out. A quiet place, away from all,” she waved her hand, car veering slightly when she tossed her eyes back again, craning her neck a little too much to find nothing. “That noise.”

“Hope County is the least noisiest place a deputy could work, you’re lucky you chose Montana.”

She snorted. Her mind flitting immediately to John. If she hadn’t of chose Montana, she wouldn’t have met John. He wouldn’t have been so enraptured of the first resident to show him an ounce of interest.

Then again, she wouldn’t have met Staci. And Staci was hot, she’d fuck Staci if she could actually manage to be alone for an hour.

And with where they were, surrounded by mountains and trees--she had a feeling they’d have more than enough time.

“Is this to your liking Stace?”

“As good a place as any, I guess. Yeah, quiet.” He was making a face, brows scrunched down, lips pulled in tight as he waved his hand in front of his face. “Lots of bugs.”

“It’ll make you strong,” she quipped, swatting him on the chest and twirling on her heel a moment later, not waiting to see if he would follow.

He did. She heard the soft crunching of his boots breaking twigs and making woodland creatures scatter. She practically felt the heat radiating off his body as he fell into step beside her, arm brushing along her skin with each step.

This was going to be good. This time, alone, she was going to make it last.

“Here.” Rook threw her arms wide, tossing a bag at his feet as she plunked herself down on the dirt. “Right here’ll work.” He didn’t need to know that she chose this spot in the woods for the express reason that the sound of a nearby stream was just loud enough to muffle whatever noises they made.

Like sex.

Staci hummed, kneeling, fingers moving fast when she jerked her head towards her bag for him to unpack. She liked the way he didn’t argue, that he seemed content. So unlike John.

 

Her phone--tucked safely away in her pocket--vibrating uncontrollably, lit up in a flurry of messages. 

Speak of the devil.

**John**

_ Rook? _

**John**

_ Are you busy? Or free at all? Because I feel as if you’re avoiding me _

**John**

_ And we both know that you’re not that cruel _

**John**

_ Right Rook? C’mon, answer me _

Then he called, not bothering to leave a voicemail. Just blowing up her phone as she fumbled to flick the switch on the side until everything was silent.

“Got a hot date Rook? Somewhere else to be besides here?”

Staci was...an asshole. He was like John in that sense. Too much bravado for his tiny body, collapsing on the blanket he laid down with swagger she didn’t know he could muster. She shrugged as if his comment didn’t bother her, like her heart wasn’t picking up speed because the thought of John figuring out that she was with a another man was terrifying.

“Come on then. Relax.” He flashed her a gleaming smile, holding out his hand until she actually took his advice and just breathed. His fingers curled around her own, dragging her closer until their thighs were pressed together.

She could forget about John’s manic obsession for the moment, munching on poorly made sandwiches with them forgetting that their boring job was waiting up for them whenever they decided to make the drive back to Hope.

For a second, everything was fine. Until it wasn’t, until he broke the goddamn silence by materializing out of thin air between the hedges. “What in God’s name are you doing Rook?” John stood only a few feet away, hands on his hips like some diva. Eyes sharp and analyzing the scene before him as if some crime was taking place.

“You were meant to be with me today darling.”

Staci, a chunk of lettuce hanging from his lips, quirked an eyebrow at her. Questioning the truth to John’s words. She shook her head minutely, a frown setting in. Rook wasn’t 100% sure if John really thought she was supposed to be by his side, he always seemed to make things up. To pick her up from her place of work with an arm looped through hers, letting her know the reservations he set up last night without her knowledge.

He had a relationship planned out in his own twisted mind.

“I’m sorry to interrupt---” He waved his hand with a roll of his eyes, “whatever the hell this was. But you are worth more than sun heated water and those pitiful sandwiches.” He laughed, nudging at Staci’s worn in boots with his own expensive loafers.

“This was my idea John. And quite frankly, I’m offended.” She leaned back on her elbows, squinting to make out how the light faded from his eyes when the sun was illuminating his back, forming a halo around him.

“I, uh. Hmph, I thought your tastes would change after being with me for so long. Forgive me, let me take you somewhere out of the heat. Please Rook.”

She opened her mouth, to say what, she wasn’t sure. Staci beat her to it, with a hand on her shoulder and a thoughtful nod. “S’fine Rook. Go, I’ll catch you at work tomorrow, yeah?”

Rook wanted to object. She was having fun for once, enjoying the company of someone other than a rich prick like John. But she saw the look he was giving her, one filled with understanding and sympathy. She saw the same thing in Hudson’s eyes when Rook was whisked away from their night out at a local dive bar. That was two days before John’s car was found spray painted with obscenities and Hudson had hooked her up with a friend of a friend while John was too busy buying a new car instead of washing it off like a normal person.

Staci would get payback, no doubt with Hudson filling in most of the plan as usual. She’d get her day.

John pulled her to her feet with little effort and a gleaming smile. “Let’s go, shall we dear?” He wrangled her in close until she could smell his cologne. He was none the wiser.


	99. Jacob/Rook Unfair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Jacob sits there dying before the Deputy, he recalls everything he's done for her. All to make her stronger, and he realizes that he loves her and that even if he wasn't dying he would never be able to tell that to her and all she will ever feel for him is hate. And hate him she does.

It wasn’t fair.

Though life rarely was. Years of pain, hurt and torture, stumbling around like a man blinded showed him that much. But after all he’s been through, all that hell called living, this seemed like an ill suited ending. Dying on a hill far from his family--who were none the wiser this was happening--they had Christmas on their minds, they were planning for John’s birthday next week, they were ready to have dinner on the buck Jacob would bring home this Friday. 

He fought for his brothers when their father took a whip to their skin, he fought for the country who tossed him out after being scarred beyond recognition when a bomb went off in the arms of his friend. He fought to build his family up again, to give them a steady foundation when he was convinced moving to Montana was a mistake.

This was the thanks he got after all he’s done? He wasn’t dying for what he wanted to, he could lie and tell himself this would protect Joseph, but it wouldn’t. Him bleeding out on a rock with Rook staring him down waiting for him to die or speak or lash out at her wouldn’t save the war heading for Joseph. 

Rook stalked closer, unaware of his inner turmoil that he hid behind a practiced mask. She was strong, standing there looking unafraid, mouth turned down in a frown. She did her job beautifully. And it ripped him apart. Because he made her, he changed this woman and it had killed him. 

He took her again and again, away from the resistance that called her a sister and a hero ready to turn marty if need be. He remembered cleary how scared she was that first time. When she was bound in a chair with two others, ready to start her trials and become something better than she ever thought possible. 

In the beginning she stared at him like he was a god, eyes wide and bugged out as he leaned down to yank her chair closer. He wanted her to see him, to understand the gift he was giving her. She was never the same after that. 

Everything he did was to make her stronger. Every trial, everytime he locked her in a cage devoid of food and water. Everytime he brought that damned music box back into her life.

He coughed, words wanting to bubble up before he was gone. She was closer now, crouched down between his knees, a hand on his shoulder to keep him from tipping over. He wanted to speak past the lump in his throat, to let her know why he chose that song for her. 

Only you…

That, throughout time, that song took on a new meaning that made him feel something he shouldn’t.

It wasn’t love. He didn’t know what love was like besides the love that he felt for his brothers and sister. But he felt something. She was strong now, the kind of woman he wanted to stand beside him would now never know what had started to grow inside him. 

“Good job deputy. Good fucking job. M’proud of you.” His words were slurred, head tilting downward, caught by her cupping his cheek like a lover might. Like his own wife did so fucking long ago that he could barely even conjure up one last image of her before he died.

Brown hair, highlighted in the sun Georgia offered up so willingly. Hazel eyes. Close to blue, like her mother’s and baby sister. Fair skin which was freckled all the way down to her naval. Voice soft and lilting, the kind that could sing lullabies to their children if he was ever so lucky--he never was. Her voice, one he didn’t remember clearly now, cracking and breaking when he ditched her after the war, after the atrocities he committed in battle. Him being scared she wouldn’t want the broken shell he was, that he was changed and not like the Jacob she married, but she was still so fucking worried that he wasn’t home and safe in her arms where she could soothe his cries. 

He gave everything up and he was the only one to blame.

It was unfair. All of it. Up until his last breath, he knew how unfair this was. Maybe Rook did too, behind all that rage and the harsh sting of her fingers straying down to his throat, tightening, threatening to choke him. Maybe she never wanted her life to turn out this way. 

It didn’t matter now. None of it would matter once he was gone. It’d be someone else’s problem. Probably Joseph’s. For that, he was sorry.


	100. PolySeed/Rook Sex Regret Headcanons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seed brothers reacting to finally getting Rook to have sex with them...only for her to immediately start crying after in regret/disgust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this is the 100 chapter (Woohoo) and as per usual, I will be making another fic, FC One Shots III to continue the requests that keep coming in

 

**Jacob**

  * He isn’t ignorant or naive. He knows why she broke down, why she started sobbing moments after he rolled off her to grab a towel to clean his cum off her stomach. 
  * This was nothing more than a spur of the moment thing, just a way to blow off steam. So no, he didn’t much care to coddle her. Or to reassure her.
  * The most he’ll do is toss a blanket her way to cover her up and offer her his bed for a single night so she won’t have to spend it alone in a cage.
  * He won’t ask if she wants to talk about it though, because he wanted this to be easy. And emotions are rarely ever easy. Besides, he doesn’t know if he did something wrong per se, or if he unearthed memories that made her break down.
  * Whatever the case, he didn’t want to get too deep into her shit. He figured she’d be fine by the morning. 



  
  


**John**

  * John thinks he did something wrong. That somehow she doesn’t love him, as if their one night having sex meant something more than it was. 
  * So immediately he jumps on her. Just cradles her to his chest and rocks her back and forth, cooing in her ear. Telling her of all that they can be together.
  * The poor man wants love, and he thought he found it.
  * He doesn’t let her leave, insisting that she stays the night--or hell! How does a month sound?
  * Come morning, he’s hesitant to leave, afraid that she’ll up and run when he only wants to explain how what they did wasn’t wrong at all. So obviously he doesn’t leave his house for days until it gets suspicious and he lags far behind in his work. 
  * Though by then he feels as if she understands, that maybe she doesn’t hate him or herself. John gets it in his head that they can get whatever this is to work.



 

**Joseph**

  * Joseph is bound to act all high and mighty. Angry at God instead of Rook, or the obvious culprit (himself)
  * He doesn’t let her leave, will go as far as to pin her underneath him with orders for guards to stand at his door if that’s what it takes. 
  * He only feels as if she needs time. She came to him once, yearning for love and affection of their bodies intertwining, she’ll come to him again; emotionally that is.
  * Joseph is convinced she is apart of the family now
  * Not only that but he believes that this is the final hurdle before the Collapse. After this, everything will fall into place and they can finally start their new life.



 


End file.
